Let Me Die
by worthlessdeath
Summary: Anielle, a depressed orphan, is in a city where the Teen Titans live. When something strange happens, she must join up with the Titans to stop this mad man. But what will happen when the villian is more than what he seems?
1. Every Last Word

Anielle sat on the bed she slept on every night. She was in a big room filled with many other orphan girls. She was one of them. It was her prison that kept her from the outside world, from feeling the everyday winds, from breathing the different smells of life. It was one of the orphanages she would stay for part of her worthless life.

She didn't remember her parents, barely remembered if she had any. They were just two tall blurred figures that were part of her painful memories. She was told that supposedly they had swerved off a bridge into deep water, their bodies never found. She was five at that time, a smiling happy child, looking forward to a fun filled heavenly life, until the world came crashing down on her. She was an only child, but would have had a brother in two weeks if…if…and they even had a name picked out for him. She had chosen the name…. Billy…Little Billy she would have called him…if only…

The second she had found out the horrible news she had been taken away from her home and had been moved from one orphanage to another. No one seemed to adopt her or even look her in the eye, exactly the way no one cared about why she was there. She was a shadow practically, partially there sitting and listening. She always was there, waiting for something. She grew to hate life, herself, and to never trust anyone. Giving up on any hope of a new home or a new family, she only waited for her life to end. Eleven years of being moved from one prison to another, from one big city to another, from one place to another, from one time to another. They all seemed the same, one big blur.

Anielle sat hunched over on her bed, her long black hair covering her pale white face. Her dark grey eyes staring at her hands that were placed on her bony knees. She was recently moved a week ago to a city where things actually happened. Heroes were in here, fighting to protect people. They were called the Teen Titans, from what she heard. Even this little bit of excitement didn't mean anything to her. Nothing meant anything to her. Anielle looked around at the other orphans, who seemed to be enjoying life and laughing and talking and telling secrets. They would be moving again. They would never see each other again. They would never have the same life they used to again. Why all this happiness?

The main conversation was on the Teen Titans. Even being there one full twenty-four hours she heard everything that needed to be known about them. No matter how hard she tried to ignore their voices, she still heard every single word. _Every…last…word_. All she did was listen. She was tired of voices, words, laughter, of sitting and listening, joy, smiles, of conversation… of just plain living.

"Oh my god! They beat that Mumbo guy yesterday! Like Robin totally did it all!" "No way! Beastboy was the one!" "Starfire and Raven kicked ass! " "You are all wrong, you know Cyborg did it all." "Hell with you all, they all did it together as one morons." It went on…and on…. and on…. and never stopped. They came from the high voices of the giggly girls. They were all giggly girls. She was surrounded by this…laughter, this fun.

Were the Teen Titans really that great? Are they worth talking about _this_ much? Were they to praise, to love, to adore? Anielle didn't know anything of happiness anymore. It was just like that blur of the ones she used to love most…what was love? What was family? They were just simple words… meaningless words. She felt engulfed in a world of darkness, an iron fist keeping her from what she wanted to be, pushing her farther away from her true self, making her suffer but not yet visit the world of the dead.

She always thought about death. It felt welcoming her to join. Death seemed to be a friend that whispered its secrets to her. Death seemed the only thing she could look forward too…if only it would come sooner.

There was one person whoa actually cared and talk to Anielle, and comforted her. It was the orphanage's secretary. A nice blue eyed lady with short brown hair and chubby cheeks. To Anielle's dismay, she praised the Teen Titans as well.

Anielle didn't realize the sudden silence in the room, since she was lost in her thoughtlessness. She looked around the room slowly. Everyone was frozen in place; some with mouths open in mid sentence.

It was as if time had stopped. The people around her didn't breath or make a sound, and the usual traffic outside didn't seem to be there. Only her soft breathe was all that she heard. Anielle quickly rushed to the window. Nothing. Not a sound. Everything was still. Was this apart of her imagination?

Suddenly, a burst of laughter rang out threw the air. It sounded evil and full of hate. It echoed, seeming louder than it really was supposed to be, seeming never ending. The laughter abruptly stopped, and yet again it was pure silence. Not knowing what to do, she stayed where she was.

Minutes passed…. or did anything pass? Was there really time, if nothing moved? It didn't seem likely. A second later, a high female's voice was talking. Another replied in a more serious way. Two girls came into view from around the corner of the building across from the orphanage. One was a little taller than the other, with red hair, sparkling green eyes, and a purple outfit. The other wore a dark blue cape like thing, a black leotard, and had dark colored eyes. They were searching for something.

"Oh, where could he have gone?" asked the red haired girl. Her features seemed familiar to her, described too many times. Ah yes…it was one of the praised. Starfire.

"Somewhere away from us," replied the other one. Must be Raven. Most of the giggly girls didn't like her. I wonder why, thought Anielle.

"I do not like this, friend Raven," said Starfire.

"Neither do I. The feeling of it…it's just not right. He must have somehow…stopped the rotation of the Earth…and possibly time, judging from the sun that hasn't moved. He might be some kind of …"Raven's voice trailed off as they slowly walked farther away from the orphanage. They hadn't noticed Anielle, who still stood standing wide eyed and confused. No one really noticed her anyways, even when everything was moving.

She had always felt lost and bewildered. Now she felt even more than that.

Anielle walked out into the hallway that separated the girl's room from the boys. She headed for the stairs on the right. The small hallway always made her feel claustrophobic. The stairs led to a big room that had a two clear class doors, opening out into the streets. They were open. Three people stood in the room with Anielle. The secretary, and a smiling couple, both overweight. The secretary, wearing an name tag saying ," HI, my name is Katie Bearing" had her mouth open in laughter. Everything felt…too strange.

Standing there seemed the only thing Anielle could do. She felt like she should actually do something, but her body wouldn't let her. She felt chained down. She wanted to go outside, to go out and explore, and maybe even find those praised heroes. Or to find where that laughter came from. Or maybe just to…. run away or…Time seemed endless to Anielle. It seemed shorter than it really was supposed to be. Or was it longer? Voices were heard again, two male voices. They came from outside, from the way Raven and Starfire had disappeared. Two figures appeared, but it was hard to hear what they were saying since they were talking in a low serious voice.

"No one will," said the one with spiky black hair and a mask over his eyes. "We have got to find this man now. If we don't…" Robin. This was Robin, Anielle knew for sure. He was mentioned the most from the giggly girls. The other must have been Cyborg. He was half robotic and half African American. She found listening helpful just then, but it still didn't mean anything to her.

" We will find him, Robin," Cyborg said seriously. " He can't be far."

"There is no trace of him anywhere," Robin said. " Starfire and Raven t haven't found him either. Beastboy…he's frozen like the rest of them, and your tracer doesn't show any sign of him either."

"We will just have to keep looking," Cyborg said.

Anielle forced herself to walk slowly towards them. She knew they wouldn't notice her if she didn't say anything. She didn't want to be alone in this stillness, and maybe they knew what was going on. Of course they would. They are the praised ones. "…Hello?"

Robin and Cyborg stopped dead in their tracks, and stared in her direction. She saw surprise and confusion in their eyes. Anielle looked down at the ground, and slowly turned towards the stairs. No, she thought. I shouldn't have said anything, should have left them be, should have left them alone, should have done nothing, should have let them go on there way to leave me in peace, should have…

"Who are you?" asked Robin.

Don't say a word. Not a word. Leave. Run. Anielle's thoughts attacked her, making her flinch. These weren't her thoughts, or were they? Were they commands that someone is yelling at her? She knew they were her own thoughts, but something kept nagging at her that she was wrong. She was always wrong. Seconds passed, and she kept still.

"Who are you?" Robin asked again.

"I…" Anielle suddenly found it hard to breathe, every time she inhaled or exhaled, it seemed to take a lot of her strength. She looked away from the two heroes, and quickly ran up the stairs, not looking back to see if they would follow her. Her vision became blurred and dizzy. She sat down on her bed. She had been there only a tiny bit ago…or was it a tiny bit? How long? Anielle thought it was all in her imagination. A nightmare or dream, something her mind came up with maybe just to occupy that one minute of her stupid life.

She had always imagined things ever since she had turned fifteen. People. A boy. A boy who would stand in a dark corner, watching her every movement. She somehow felt that he was there, and when she looked up he would look away and disappear into thin air. He had inky black hair that blended in with the shadows, piercing gray eyes and skin just like hers. His eyes stared through her as if she wasn't there. A feeling of unreality surrounded her when she saw him.

But now, it felt so real. It wasn't a dream. It was no nightmare. It was real. A sudden jolt of pain shot through her, making her fall to her knees. A mixture of numbness and pain consumed her. Loud buzzing sounds and the laughter she heard earlier screamed in her ears, filled her ears sounds that she didn't know the making of, but forced cold tears to form in her eyes, and stream down her cheeks, falling onto the cemented ground. The pain was so intense. She felt helpless, insecure… as if she never existed…nothing….

Anielle wasn't aware that Robin had followed a couple of seconds after her up the stairs and was standing in the room, watching her. He found her kneeling on the ground, fists clenched, and tears falling swiftly out of her eyes.

"Are you alright?" Robin asked, rushing to her to her side.

Anielle barely heard him. The world seemed to shake before her eyes. She didn't feel the light touch of his hand on her shoulder, or the questions he asked her. "I…." She tried to listen, she tried to answer, she tried to answer with all her might, but it was fruitless. Her voice shook, she knew, but she didn't hear it. Her heart beat against her chest, pain behind her eyes screamed. Blackness suddenly flashed before her eyes, and she left consciousness.

Robin caught her before she hit the ground. What was happening? Something strange was going on, he knew. This girl had something to do with it. There were so many questions, but there were no answers.

Earlier that day Robin and the Teen Titans were walking around the city. Beastboy secretly was planning to play a trick on Cyborg. When Cyborg was about to buy something, Beastboy threw a 'tofu' like chicken towards Cyborg, but an old man somehow accidentally got in the way and was hit by it instead. It splattered all over him. He turned around towards the Teen Titans, anger blazing in his eye.

He took the chicken, and threw it on the ground. Beastboy began to laugh hysterically at him, making the man even angrier. The man spread out his arms, hands facing the sky, and chanted some words that were not of any English. Green spoke came out of his hands that protruded out into the sky. Time abruptly stopped. People froze in place, leaving Beastboy in mid laughter. Strangely enough Robin, Starfire, Raven, and Cyborg could still move.

The man put down his hands and stared grimly at the Teen Titans. He began to laugh, a horrible laugh that echoed all throughout the city. The Titans just stared at him, dumbfounded.

"Yes! Now is the time! We shall see the beginning of its rein!" yelled the old man. His laughter stopped and he continued to stare at the Titans with his beady black eyes. " Children…do not play with fire," the man said mysteriously, and suddenly disappeared in a flash.

"That was…strange," Raven said, cocking an eyebrow.

" Indeed this is. This isn't good, dear friends! What shall we do? What about Beastboy?" asked Starfire.

"What we should do is look for the old man," Robin said.

"Well at least we got Beast Boy to shut up for once," Cyborg said, poking BB in the back.

And now this girl…whoever she was, was part of it, whatever _it_ was. They had always known their enemies, everything there was to know about them, or anything there was to know, but not his time. Not this time.


	2. Strange Feelings

Thanks a lot for all of those who reviewed

Chapter Two. Hope you guys like it. Haven't been able to put it on any earlier because life does get in the way, and homework.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Teen Titans…I don't own time…

One of my favorite quotes (Unknown):_'There are never strangers, only friends you haven't met.'_

Once again, thanx to all those who reviewed!

Chapter 2 

Cyborg didn't know how long he had waited for Robin. It felt like an eternity to him, but it could have easily been just five minutes. This whole time thing freaked him out and confused him. Time has stopped… time…. Has ……….stopped. How can time stop?

He leaned against the strange building, patiently waiting for Robin to come out. The building had an unusual shape to it, and it was green. The color green you might see to your discomfort when someone is throwing up. Who would live in a building that looks like a million people's throw up? Three people stood in the room where the clear doors led into. They seemed to add onto to the bizarreness of the building.

The weirdest part of it…was that it was an orphanage.

Only seconds before, Robin followed the unusual girl up the stairs that lead up to the second story of the building. What was taking him so long? All he had to do was ask her what was going on, see if she had anything to do with this menacing old man (he personally thought it just wrong to have an old man causing these weird things, and with his _hands_. What happened to the canes?) That was all he had to do, not stay up there and chit chat.

"Cyborg," called Robin from upstairs.

"Yeah?'

"I think we have a problem."

"Yeah we do! What else do you think this whole time thing is? Unless-"

Cyborg stopped as Robin came from the stairs towards him with something in his arms. A body of, and when Robin came closer, he saw that it was the girl. She either was dead, and Robin wanted to cover up his murder by probably throwing her in a dumpster (though he knew Robin wouldn't do such a thing), or she was unconscious. Either one, it didn't look good.

"Whoa, man. What did you do? Beat the information out of her?"

"No…something was wrong with her and…"

"And then you beat the information out of her?"

"No. She just...fainted." Robin's voice sounded peculiar. Before Cyborg said anything else, he said, " She just fainted. I found her on her hands and knees crying…I think she was in some kind of pain or something."

"That's weird."

"Yeah, it is. We should take her to the tower, and ask her some questions once she is conscious again."

"What?" Cyborg said. "We don't know who she is, man. There is no reason to bring her into the tower. We can't trust her!"

"We got to."

"No we don't. Who knows what she could do. What if she has those magical powers like that old fart?"

"Something about her is telling me she isn't part of a magical source."

"How can she not be?"

"Maybe she is…fighting it somehow."

"Alright. Fine, let's take her to the tower, but the others wont like it,"Cyborg said, feeling defeated. He didn't like the idea at all, and planned to keep on his guard. He didn't like the feeling of the girl. It was…creepy.

Robin started off in the direction of the tower, careful not to bump or knock over any people on the streets. Cyborg followed him, and began to mumble to himself.

Robin's feet felt like led. The scorching sun that hadn't moved stared down on him. The tower seemed too far away, too far of a distance to walk to, maybe just to stay where we are and let the master mime find us so we don't have to bother to look for him…Robin shook the thoughts out of his head. He had never thought things like that, of giving up. But they were so…enticing…so…welcoming…

A chill walked up and down his spine. He didn't like what he was feeling. His thoughts took him away to an unforgettable world full of hatred and sin…no trace of love in sight. His thoughts overlapped each other making him enter this world…No. These weren't his thoughts. Yes, they are…. they are what you have always thought…. No…. no they aren't….

"Yo, Robin? You all right?"Cyborg asked, freeing Robin from the world of hate.

"I'm…fine," Robin said. It was all just a hallucination, he said to himself. It's the sun…dehidration…wait…what if-

"Robin? Robin? Are you there?'' A voice came from his communicator, interrupting Robin's thoughts. Cyborg reluctantly took the girl from his arms.

"I'm here, Star," Robin said into the device.

"Robin! I am so happy to hear you. Have you found any clues of this man of old age?"

"No, nothing. Have you?" Cyborg gave him slight glare and gestured to the girl he held in his arms.

"No, we have not found a single trace of anything of importance. Shall we meet back at our lovely home?"

"Sure, Star."

"Alright. And shall Raven and I bring our friend Beastboy?"

"Good idea. I'm sure Beastboy would appreciate it."

"Why didn't you tell her?" Cyborg asked. He tried to hand the girl back to Robin, but he made no move to take her back. Robin just shrugged. He himself wasn't sure why he hadn't told Starfire. Those thoughts of giving up were still roaming around in his head, making his body want to listen, but his mind forbid it.

The Titan's Tower came into view and so did the ocean. It was weird to see an unmoving mass of water. Robin thought it possible to walk on it, like that Messiah guy walking on water. Or he would sink deep within and be stuck in the ocean like being stuck in a big thing of Jell-O.

Cyborg abruptly stopped. Robin stopped a little ahead of him, and looked behind him at Cyborg. His eyes were wide open, and his mouth was slightly ajar.

"Cyborg, you ok?" Robin asked worriedly.

Cyborg didn't answer right away. He stood as still as everyone else around him. He sighed heavily, and said, "Did you…feel that?"

"Feel what?" asked Robin.

"You heard it right? You heard it?"

"No Cyborg. Everything is quiet."

"No, there was something. You must have. It was yelling…screaming some language I didn't understand…dude…don't tell me you didn't see it. It was…as clear as day…right…there…"

"See what?" Robin didn't know what was going on with Cyborg. He never acted paranoid like this. Something was wrong…. A thought came into mind again, but it disappeared as soon as it came, covered by those thoughts of giving up…

"This is too freaky…. I guess I was…. just seeing things…"

Cyborg shook his head, grinned, and continued on. He still held the girl in his arms as if it was a burden he was had to carry all of his life. Robin followed him slowly.

As they reached the water they smelled the never changing smell of salt. Robin gently walked onto the water, and found out that it was as hard as concrete.

"Walking on water," chimed Robin to himself. Cyborg didn't say a word.

As soon as they had entered the tower, Starfire came to greet them and tell them how happy she was to see them. What stopped her was the sight of a pale skinned girl wearing all black in Cyborg's arms, who looked pretty much dead. Cyborg didn't look too good himself.

"Friends, may I ask who this girl is?" Star asked.

"We don't know," Robin answered.

"Then why have you brought a stranger here to our home?"

"That's a good question," Cyborg mumbled.

"She might have answers," Robin said.

"Right, answers…so she isn't…. somewhat dead?" To Starfire she looked dead, and wondered if she would ever wake up, as she remembered a movie that had something to do with a girl who didn't wake up, and white snow. She didn't remember the ending.

"No Star. She just fainted."

Cyborg led the way to the medical room, where he set the girl down on one of the tables. Trying to erase the thoughts of a dead girl, Star asked," What shall we do while we wait for this girl to wake?"

" Wait I guess," Robin said. Star nodded, and floated out of the room silently. She didn't know why, but it made her uncomfortable to be in the room with that girl. She laughed a little at her foolishness. She was about to pass Raven's room, when a quiet voice whispered her name, making her stop.

"Yes, what is it, friend Raven?"Star smiled at her friend who stood in the doorway. Her face was half seen.

"What did Robin and Cyborg bring back with them?"

"A girl…who they say might have answers. Why hadn't they told us they found her?''

Raven didn't answer.

"Does this trouble you?'' Starfire saw a slight pained look in Raven's eyes. She did not like to see her friends sad or in some kind of pain.

"I don't like it. They shouldn't have brought her. She shouldn't be here."

This startled Starfire. Why shouldn't she be here? She knew Raven was right. A stranger we do not know anything about should never be in our tower. Raven crept out of her room and went the way Star came from. Starfire followed her, not sure what else to do.

The dead looking girl was the same when she entered, and the same eerie feeling that she felt before weighed her down, forcing her to stay in the doorway. Cyborg sat in a chair, mumbling and fiddling with his robotic thumbs, Robin was pacing, and Raven stood next to the girl.

"Where did you find her?" Raven was asking.

"I don't know," Robin said. He felt pretty clueless, and felt the three words race in his head, the only thing he ever knew…that he doesn't know.

"An orphanage," Cyborg said. Raven didn't ask anything more, and stood staring at the girl. The same pained look Star had seen earlier was in her eyes. She didn't like it.

"Rae, you alright?" Robin asked, who stopped pacing.

Raven didn't answer and gradually stepped away from the table.

Cyborg began mumbling under his breath again, and Robin hastily started pacing.

Anielle wasn't sure where she was or if she even existed. All she remembered was blackness. All she knew was darkness. All she was…darkness. What was life? What was death? What am I? Who am I?

Questions echoed around her. She felt blind, and helpless, trapped in an alternate reality where nothing ever existed except the mere thought of existence. She felt chained down, controlled by some kind of magic she didn't know the meaning of. She struggled away from the unknown control. It was worthless, she knew. She could never escape it, because it would always be there…

A figure appeared in a dim grayish light in front of her. The figure was a young man, not her age…not older than her , or even younger. He seemed ageless to her. He seemed familiar, so real. Anielle knew him from somewhere, she was sure.

"It does not matter who I am," he said. His voice sounded soft, as if he was reciting a deep poem with lots of feeling. Than she realized his lips weren't moving, that the voice was coming from the darkness around her.

"Isn't it confusing? This, what you might call it, an alternate reality?'' The young man grinned, partially showing his white teeth. Yes, yes, it was confusing. Anielle didn't know what else to think of it except of what the man had said. To her, she felt that he was controlling her in some way, controlling her thoughts. She felt trapped.

"Please, relax. There is nothing to worry about. Nothing at all….'' His voice was so soothing. She relaxed and let the tight grip around her tighten, almost making her feel like nothing. No! No… No, I won't let this happen…no…

"Maybe I shall tell you who I am? I believe it would comfort you."

No, nothing would comfort her. Only to have control of herself would comfort her. Just then she wanted to die, let her life be taken away by the unknown. 'Death is not…the answer. You have much to see and live for. Very much, I must say. I am Billy. I am your brother, dear sister." The man took a slight bow, and his grin widened. My brother? But…how? He is dead! Long forgotten! Never born in this cursed world.

"Your…our parents didn't swerve off a bridge into a likely death of deep water. They were taken. No, not kidnapped in any way…saved lets say. They are still alive, and wish to see you again, after these long eleven years."

Still alive! She believed him, she believed that it could be true, she believed it, because she was forced to, but deep inside she knew that it was all a lie, deep down inside she was still fighting against whatever magic was working against her…deep down inside…

"We are in your mind, so I hear all your thoughts. Do not worry, for there is nothing to worry about. Please, just listen. What I will tell you may be strange, but you will understand…"

A sudden ripple shook the ground. Noises from the town came flooding in the medical room where the four Titan's stood…waiting…in silence….

"Is there anything we can do for this girl who is not conscious?'' Star asked, breaking the silence.

"No,'' Raven said.

"Why is this?'' Starfire tried as hard as she could to remember the end of that movie…how did it end?

Robin stopped pacing, and looked in Raven's direction. An idea sparked into his head. "Raven, can you go into her mind?"

"Yes, can you do this, friend Raven?'' Star said.

Raven, not liking the idea, nodded slightly. She didn't like the force of magic that came from the girl. It was some kind of dark magic, a blocking spell…she had felt it before. Many times before, but she couldn't piece the puzzle together. Something clouded her memory.

Raven concentrated on the girl, and closed her eyes. Clearing her mind, she focused all her energy on the girl's. Let me see her thoughts…her feelings…her every love or hate…Her life. Her wishes…her every desire… Raven felt that she was getting closer. She was almost entirely in her mind. Blackness surrounded Raven. Everything was quiet. The strange feeling of magic appeared stronger.

Two figures appeared. One, a young man, the other, the pale-faced girl. She was almost there…in her mind… she was almost close enough to them when…

A sudden force flared up against Raven, shoving her away from the two figures…farther and farther away until they weren't to be seen by her vision. It was the barrier that blocked her out of the girl's mind. Away from what there was to see, and what they were saying. That man, he was the answer. He was the dark magician that caused paranoia to everyone who was around the girl. That dark magic…she knew it from somewhere….

Raven tried once more time to get into the girl's mind, to break the barrier. Yet again the two figures came into view. The man was laughing, and the girl was just staring at him. There. Something was controlling her, a green substance surrounded her, and she was trying to fight it. Deep inside she was trying to fight it…but how did Raven know?

Raven saw the dark magic surround the girl and almost overtaking her. Why would they want her? What was so important about her?

She tried to reach out to them…to join them…to destroy the barrier…to find the answers…

The man, still laughing, turned towards Raven's sight, his grey eyes opened wide so that the whites of his eyes took over her vision. Staring her down. She felt him grabbing her, and throwing her away, farther than he had done before. Raven fought against him, trying to be free from his control. He was stronger than her, and finally pushed her far away again, farther perhaps…

A red hazy image appeared in front of Raven in the blackness. It was a demon, but she wasn't sure what kind it was. It's mouth opened and a hideous voice screamed, "GT UGHZ UMPHF GHE ASHEEUFT! UPHT WERDCH GHU XDEEWA!" and repeating the chant over and over, making Raven's head hurt.

Raven opened her eyes; her vision lay upon the ground of the medical center. Her breath came out in gasps. Sweat rolled down her forehead, into her eyes, making them watery. Feeling shaky, she looked around at the others. What she saw mortified her. A deathly feeling took over her feelings, knocking her to the ground, her emotions running wild.

The others weren't there.

The room was burning, heat as hot as hell…

Flames dancing around her body, making her choke on what little air she could grasp…

She was alone…

In a burning room…

Alone…burning…lost…

A red demon grabbed her wrist, and lifter her up. He was the same red demon she had seen before. He was perched on the table where the girl was. He wasn't there a second ago…or was he…

The beast had tiny greasy hands, long green claws going deep into her skin, a red chunky body that danced with the fire, black horns that was long and sharp. The demon of…

It was smiling at her, all its shiny white pointy teeth glistening in the firelight. It's eyes as yellow as the blazing sun forced her to look deep within the shadowy pits of his deadly mind…deeper….deeper…

"What…what have…you done…with my…friends…"Raven asked, her lips parched and her throat, burning. The heat was killing her, making her sweat uncontrollably, more than she ever had in her entire life. Her vision was barely anything, her ears plugged with the terrible sound of the heat, but it was enough to know that the demon was laughing at her.

"Never play with fire, young one,'' the beast said. Its voice was hideous, a dying cat screeching for its life, suffering…a millions screams of dying burning people screaming for life…suffering…suffering…

"It was either you or her for the end…" the demon, said, whispering in Raven's ear. "But it is her…your soul is nothing…"

Everything became silent. A loud buzzing sound filled her ears, making her head ache more than it already was. Raven saw a glimse of death…

She felt that she was nothing.

The ringing noise slowly dissolved in itself. In its place came the soft sound of Jump City…honking…

Raven slowly opened her eyes, and there…laid the pale faced girl…


	3. Nonstop Anticipation

Eh…this one is kind of weird to me, there is no explanation on why I have this strangeness in it…its just me . Not many questions are answered…next chapter definitely . Hang in there.The characters may be a bit out of character, and might not be exactly what they would say in a situation like this, but I tried my best and I hope you like it. I must say…I never think its good enough.

Thanks for reviewing so far, glad are reading' this: mollykat, beautifully-evil,WindyDays,Kiozona.pop

**Chapter 3**

"Rae? Rae? Earth to Raven, snap out of it."

Cyborg gently shook Raven on the shoulder. She wasn't moving. She stood in a daze, staring at the girl. Her eyes were open wide, and her mouth was shut tight. All the color from her face had drained away. For a split second Cyborg thought that the girl and Raven could have been sisters.

"Raven? Dear friend Raven, are you alright?" Starfire rushed to Raven's side, despite the strange feeling, and snapped her fingers in front of her face.

"Raven." Robin stood there staring her directions. Whatever she had seen in the girl's mind had done this to her and it was his entire fault…all…his…it was his idea for her to go into her mind… What if it had somehow damaged her? Made her possibly mental? Or even…kill her? Or worse?

"Get away from me," Raven said sternly, exiting out of her daze, and clearing Robin's thoughts of her being dead. Cyborg and Star jumped back in alarm from her sudden outburst.

"Raven…what did you see?" Robin asked calmly, afraid of what the answer might be.

"Nothing… good," Raven said. He sensed the slight fear in her voice when she spoke, even though she tried to hide it. He knew her too well not to know she was scared. Scared for all of them.

The 'nothing good' was more than that, everyone knew, but what they didn't know, the unknown, was what they were really scared about. Too many questions that needed answers, too many questions they didn't even know they needed answers for.

They would see soon enough. It was there…too close for comfort. They would know soon enough.

"Umm…guys?"

Beastboy stood in the doorway, startling them all. They had all forgotten about him, which wasn't all that bad for a while. "What's going on?"

No one answered him. They all just stared at him, and listened to the clock ticking…

Tick…tick…. tick…. tick…. tick….

"And when was there ever a clock in here?"

"I don't know Beastboy. A lot has happened ever since you froze in time. I can-"

"Whoa, Whoa, wait a sec," Beastboy said, interrupting Robin. "You're saying I 'froze' in place?"

"Yeah, you did, and-"

"That's crazy! That isn't what I saw. I was laughing at that old dude, and then I was just in my room. I tell ya, it's some kinda teleportin' business. I bet its aliens… no wait, not just any kind of aliens. _The_ Aliens!"

"No Beastboy, no aliens. You were-"

"Hey, now that I think about it, that old guy. I've seen him before."

"Where? When?" Cyborg asked.

"He was…stalking us or something the other day, you know, when we were getting pizza, that yucky chicken stuff, gross.. I don't get how you guys can eat that stuff…"

"Get to the point," Robin said.

" Then after the pizza Robin was forced by Star to wear that humungous fat cow outfit…heh, that was funny, you really did look like one of those grass eating mammals…anyways…then the old man was hanging around this freaky building….and then stalking us, and then…"

"I believe this is some kind of system of the Earthly men of old age?" Star asked.

"No not really. Unless he is totally berserk… which wouldn't be any surprise," Beastboy said. "Or he probably have nothing better to do…maybe he wants our autographs."

" What building was it?" Raven asked.

"Uhh…. hmm…. it was…. no wait…. uh…. oh uh…no…wait yea…no…"

"C'mon BB, we got no time for jokes," Cyborg said.

"It is not a game, friend," Star added seriously.

"Alright! Let me think…umm…well I can't remember really at this moment…something stinks around here…who's the girl?"

"We don't know," Raven said roughly. "Just answer the question."

Beastboy ignored Raven's nasty comment. "Sooo…. You're saying we got a stranger here?" He didn't exactly like the idea of having someone they didn't know in their tower. For the fact…it looked dead. Very dead, if anything could look more than dead. Was it even breathing? He began to get the chills. He didn't like it at all. An awkward silence filled the room. The clicking of the clock seemed to grow louder…and louder…and a bit louder…and louder….

"Ok, that clock is freaking me out," Cyborg said. "I don't even remember having one in here." He took down the clock form the wall and rummaged in the back of it. "Damn…a non-digital one, I mean, who sells these things anymore?"

"Oh! I remember now. The building was green. A nasty colored green…who would paint a building green!" Beastboy ignored the stares from the others. He had left out the part about the familiarity of his skin with the building. He probably could have camouflaged pretty well against it.

"The orphanage," Robin said.

" So this girl is definitely part of this," Star said.

"She has to be," Robin said.

"What is _this_?" Beastboy asked. "Please don't tell me you guys don't know either…"

"Sorry to break your heart Beastboy. We don't know," Robin replied.   
Beastboy let out a heavy sigh.

Cyborg finished rummaging in the back of the clock and took out the big ole' batteries.

Yet…the ticking didn't stop.

"What's going on?" Beastboy asked.

"Time stopped," Robin said, glancing at the clock that was in Cyborg's hands. " Causing everyone in the city to freeze in place. And possibly the whole world."

"Except you guys," Beastboy said. "And…I'm guessing the girl too."

"Yeah. It was done by that old man who you through that chicken at."

"Dude! I didn't mean to! I mean, he just got in the way or something…somehow… it was supposed to be Cyborg who got clubbed by my," he cleared his throat as he earned himself a glare from Cyborg, "Ultra Super Tofu Chicken Deluxe!" Raven stared at him with a look that read 'you're an idiot'.

Cyborg finally decided to smash the clock.

"It was funnier though, the look on that old fart's face."

The ticking didn't stop.

"I don not like this," Star said, shivering. "I wish to know more about this man, so we can stop him."

"Beastboy, do you know anything else about the guy?" Robin asked.

"Yeah… the strangest part of him was…wait…I don't know, it's hard to remember…" Beastboy scratched his head, and thought his mind had gone haywire since he couldn't remember practically anything about the guy. Maybe his brain got all smashed up during this 'time' thingy…he didn't like the thought of it. Or wait! He knew it was the aliens…they were the type to do the "Brain Experiments". He stuck with his idea…it seemed more practical. Maybe the aliens forced his friends to say it wasn't them….and maybe his brain was worth something…

"Guys, whatever I do to this clock," Cyborg said, frustrated, "it won't stop ticking." He had smashed it on the ground with his feet, and now the remnants of the clock lay in a million pieces on the floor. "It's haunted or something. Man, that's weird."

"It…it isn't a regular clock," Raven said. "I know where it is from…but…I can't remember…"

"Something is terribly wrong," Starfire said worriedly, "I don't like it at all. This strange feeling…do you, friends, not feel this prickly strangeness?" The Titans nodded slowly, saying that they did feel it. "And then its s not remembering these….things that would help us at this certain time and event about this man. I believe the phrase would be that we sound like…crazy people?"

"More like clueless idiots," Beastboy said. "All these 'I don't knows'…now you guys know how I feel when you all talk about those confusing stuff….or whatever you…talk….about…. and then you just don't get it…" He laughed half heartedly, not sure what else to say.

"That's nice Beastboy," Robin said, "Star is right. We don't remember anything that has to do with this man, only the basics."

"Dude!" Cyborg exclaimed." He's done something to us or something… I don't like the idea of having us being called "The Clueless Idiots'' in exchange of the Teen Titans…what did that old man look like anyways?"

No one answered, they shook their heads or just shrugged. The ticking began to grow a touch louder once again. It didn't seem to be coming from the pieces on the floor. The sounds seemed to be coming from all around them, from the room itself, from the walls, from the air, overlapping over the soft buzz of Jump Town.

Raven stood still.

Cyborg looked around the room as if God was calling his name.

Beastboy screwed his face up in deep concentration, trying to think of being a smart wiz and pondering about those aliens…

Starfire felt cold…and began a habit of biting her fingernails.

Robin stared at the girl, as if he was expecting the answers to burst out of her…which they probably wouldn't. He wondered about Cyborg's crazy idea on 'beating' the information out of her…it could work…possibly…

Tick….tick…tick….tick…tick…tick…

Cyborg kicked around the pieces of the clock, and mouthed rude words towards it. He wished to never set eyes on another non-digital clock again…if he would, he would have a great urge to scream like a little girl.

Suddenly, the strange feeling that had engulfed the room and the people inside it faded away…

The girl's eyes slowly opened, and she sat up. Her face was deadly white. She looked out the window, at particularily nothing. The deep grayness in her eyes showed of great fear and pain. To the Titans, she looked like the long forgotten dead coming back to life.

What filled the room was the warmth of a regular city day.

The Titans didn't know what to. Beastboy's interesting comment of being complete and clueless idiots seemed to be coming true in their minds. The ticking became abruptly louder than it was seconds before, somehow…which didn't really make sense since it already sounded loud enough.

It sounded like a huge butcher knife chopping off people's heads, but without the scream of bloody murder or the stench of the blood. The Titans briskly covered their ears. The girl acted as if she didn't hear the booming/ticking noise. She kept on staring out the window, her depressing expression unchanging.

"WHO ARE YOU?" Robin yelled, trying to make his voice heard over the horrendous noise. He was glad and all that those thoughts of giving up had cleared his mind…but now this _ticking _bugged the hell out of him…and he wanted answers.

"No one…of importance," came the girl's sad and hopeless sounding voice. She said it so softly that the Titans were struck dumb that they could actually hear it when they barely heard what Robin said; they only saw his mouth movements. Freaky.

Finally, she looked towards the Titans. She didn't look directly at them, for fear of them seeking what she really was made for in this lifetime. Fresh in her mind, scarred deep in her soul, the knowledge her once lost brother had told her…yet she would have to tell them something. She knew. They would force it out of her. She would tell them something…

The ticking became unbearable. The Titans tightened their grip over their ears and winced in pain from the sound knocking them down…a force knocking them down towards the ground.

It became nonstop…becoming one within its self…one deathly scream…one bellow of anger, hatred and horror…. a screech of fiery and unknowingness….screech of an alien crying for more brains to eat (Beast Boy's thoughts)…children screaming for help out of a melting burning room….women yelling for their lost children…families dying together in a burning locked room without any hope for a chance to live their once happy lives….men yelling for help to get away from their death that was only seconds away…once loved teens screaming their bloody heads off to have the love of their life…a monster screaming in anticipation for killing its target that now gave up and let it be ….

"It's…a warning…"


	4. Waiting For Answers

Alas chapter 4, the wonderful and magnificent chapter 4. Well, not really. I jus thought it would be an interesting beginning, don't you think? Anyways…I have a lot of thought on what is going on through the story, and you can tell not much movement has been done…but the story still goes on. It is still the beginning, and it still goes on. If you have any impute on how to make it more interesting if you find it boring, please tell me. I enjoy hearing what you have to say about it.

Thanks to those who reviewed. Your reviews keep me writing, or typing…and the life of us all must go on. A special thanks to:

**Mystyre, Kiozona.pop,riawolf, beautifully-evil**

**Disclaimer:** If I own the Teen Titans they all would be boring as hell.

Onto the lovely chapter

Chapter 4 

The ticking stopped. All was still, no breathing, no source of any movement. The sound from the city didn't seem to make any noise either. All was still.

Beast Boy didn't really like the silence. He preferred loud things. It was more calming to him in a way. Silence gave him the creeps, like an unknown creature ready to jump on his back and scare the hell out of him. "A warning?" he asked. As soon as he spoke, the buzzing came back from Jump Town, the breathing in the room continued, and movement appeared once again. The girl nodded, even though they could hardly tell if she even moved their head. Beast Boy figured it was a nod. She didn't seem as befuddled as the rest of the Titans were.

"I remember," Raven said quietly. "I remember what that clock was. It was the Sound of Time, or The Time of Warning. I have never heard it before…very rarely it appears…"

"I guess we are the lucky ones," Cyborg said sarcastically.

"Very interesting," Beast Boy said. "Why us though? Why would someone want to warn us with this 'magical' clock thingy?" He directed the question towards the girl.

She didn't say a word. She would only speak if they would ask her something that could be only of a slightest answer. Even then, she would try to make her words limited. It was forced upon her to do so, and that she would do.

"Who or what is it from?" Robin asked.

All eyes were on the girl. She knew she had to tell them something, not everything, but what they needed to know at this time at least. The rest would be known sooner or later. Some time. Some place. They would know it if they liked it or not.

When she didn't speak, Robin moved onto his next question. "Who are you?" He felt he asked the same question a billion times and had been over budgeted over its use of the words. It didn't matter; all he wanted was the answers. He wanted them now.

"I am an orphan."

"What is your _name_?"

"Anielle. Anielle Demstron." Raven suddenly winced at the name. Raven didn't know why, but it sounded so familiar to her. Her name told all of it, made her want to glare at the girl menacingly, that the girl would never be trustworthy. She couldn't trust her even if the rest of her team gave into it. Yet, Raven still didn't know why, but her thoughts folded over one another. Making her want to trust her and to not trust her all in the same instant.

"Uhh…Anielle…how did you know this thing or whatever it is or was…was a warning? What is the warning from, another planet? Aliens? Who did it and uhh…. and why? When-" Beast Boy stopped his jumbled up questions when Cyborg gave him a curious look. Trying to be the detective never worked for Beast Boy, always fruitless at the times he would try.

"Just tell us everything about the warning," Cyborg said.

"The warning…" Anielle took a deep breath. Her brother would torture her if she told too much, and he would still torture her if she told too little. The choices were limited …the instructions complex yet not too hard… It was too much for her, all too confusing. What was she made for? Why won't they say? Why control me in such a way? She wished that they would just kill her, end her life, _let me die_, but she knew they never would. They would leave her at the edge of death, suffering, forever. Nothing could end her life. She was cornered… unless she could do something about it.

"The warning is from an old man, warning you to stay back…or he will…. stop Time again…and it never will continue."

Beast Boy was about to say something, but Robin beat him to it. "Who is this old man?" he asked.

"I…I don't know…"

"You have to know. Tell us everything."

_Everything. Everything is a lie. Everything is nothing. _

"He's…a man…old…very old. Older than many centuries…he's…he's not exactly what anyone would call…. human."

"Aliens? I knew it! Sorry Star…not that kind of alien. You know…. the brain sucking ones?" Beast boy grinned. He was about to add on to his brilliant thought, but Anielle look into his black eyes and shook her head slightly, even though her head barely moved. He didn't like those eyes. They scared him, and if they looked into him any longer, they would haunt him in his sleep. So knowing, so regretful, so unknown, unseeing…he didn't know what was hidden behind them, but he sure didn't want to find out. He looked down at the ground. He liked the silence better.

"Beast boy, you watch too many movies on brain sucking and stuff," Cyborg said, shaking his head. "There are no aliens like that."

"How do you know?" Beast boy asked.

"I know, because they are just fiction. You come up with the strangest things."

"Or it could just be him," Raven commented. Beast boy glared at her.

"So you're saying he is older than a regular human?" Robin asked the girl.

"Yes…he is some kind of…magician…I think, a man, the man, yes, the man…who was the one who stopped…" Anielle thought she said enough.

"Stopped what?" Robin asked.

She didn't answer.

"Stopped people from dying? Life? Someone from doing something?" Cyborg guessed. "Stopped us? Him? Uhh…"

"Time," Robin said. "I'm betting he is the one who stopped time, am I right?" He gave the girl a long stare. She slightly nodded.

"So," Cyborg said, "He is the middle of this."

The man was the master mime. He was the one to stop.

"We got to stop him." Cyborg's robotic fingers formed into fists. "Even though he only stopped time, who knows what else he can do? Kill off every single being? Destroy the planet? This doesn't seem right. We need more answers."

It seemed to be a kind of rotation to Robin, a cycle, a never-ending circle, this man, the center of it. The cause of it. The one causing these happenings, events, strange things. And what about the girl…Anielle? What did she have to do with all of this? Was he using her? Her name sounded strange enough, along with her last name, though it was usual to have cultural last names in the world…but…and Raven had an interesting reaction towards it. What does she have to do with it?

"What else do you know about him?"

I know everything, Anielle thought, I know everything. I know every single detail there is to be known. They are all in my being, in my mind, but they slip away from my reach, from my free will, from my touch and sight. The information was there…but would only reveal at times in front of my…my unwillingly seeing eyes…

One word popped in her head. Yes…they would want to know this…."His name…I know…"

Suspense filled the room. His name. That was important. It would help them find him. Definitely.

"But…"

"But what?" Robin asked.

"It is dangerous to speak his name."

"How is this so?" Star asked. "Is this some kind of magician type shield?"

"I…don't know."

"You have to know," Cyborg said, growing a bit impatient. "Just tell us. He has to be stopped."

"Tell us," Raven said.

"His name…his name…I only know the first of his name. Yet it still might be dangerous to speak it…"

"Spit it out," Cyborg said curtly.

The Titans were surrounding her in a half circle around the table. Anielle didn't like so much of the attention. She was so used to being ignored all the time, that it felt strange to have so many eyes at once on her. She now understood that she had grown to love being simply ignored. They were all waiting for her to speak…waiting! No one waited for her about anything, even though they were waiting in a negative way. Yet, she was the one always waiting. Waiting for answers. Now it was the praised ones, actual heroes people cared about, waiting for Anielle, someone who people could care less about, for her to speak. She felt speechless.

She shifted uncomfortably on the hard cold metal of the table. Why did they not lay her on one of the comfortable ones that was an actual bed? Probably because the found her a pesky burden. It felt like an operating table of some kind. Would they operate her? Anielle was surprised that she didn't cramp up from laying on it for so long. She silently thought about what had happened…in some way enjoying the few seconds of being impatiently waited on…

Anielle had fainted, the cause she couldn't remember or how she fainted. Then she arrived in the Tower, which many of the giggly girls back at the orphanage dreamed to be at. She was there. Inside. And they _knew_ her. Well, they didn't trust her, that's for sure. How could they? Yet she was living the dreams of those giggly girls. Giggly girls. Giggly girls. Giggly girls. That's all she had ever referred to the other orphans that laughed with such high pitch that it got very annoying. Anielle always wanted to punch them in the face to shut them up. Giggly girls. Now she wondered what they called her. The Idiot? The Dead Girl? The Moron of All Moronicness? Anielle didn't even think 'moronicness' was a word. She didn't quite own a dictionary, or a single thing, for the matter.

Without her choice, her lips moved shaping the name without difficulty. "Ramkanakaiya." The name echoed when Anielle said the name, making it seem to flow within itself. Nothing else happened after that. Just the haunting echo. She thought there would be more to this when it was spoken, but maybe it would have been the whole name. The whole name was dangerous. "Or for short…. Ramka."

"Ramka," repeated Raven. Memory filled her mind once the name had been spoken. She remembered. "Ramka. He was from Azerath."

"How do you know?" Robin asked.

"I'm not sure…it just suddenly appeared in my mind," Raven said.

Yes, Anielle thought. The name caused memory to be revealed when his name was spoken. That was it. That was what Ramka wanted. What he and my brother had planned. They would be thrilled.

"He's an evil man. Not a person anyone would like to meet. He is older than anyone's greatest ancestors, older than probably the Earth." She paused, letting her words sink in. "He's not a magician, no not even close. Wha…what he is…h-he…is…"Raven stumbled upon the words she was about to speak. They were frightening, deadly even. She did not wish to speak them, but her friends had to know." He is an ally of my father."

The other four Titans stared at her, disbelief in there eyes.

There was nothing good about it.

Maybe better left unsaid, unknown.

Undone.

Anielle knew this already. She wasn't the one to tell.

"That's…definitely not good," Cyborg said.

"No it is not," Star said sadly. " We shall find a way to beat him, right dear friends?"

No one answered, for there was no answer.

"Raven, what else do you know?" Robin asked.

What else did she know. To Raven, the information seemed to be laid out in front of her, ready and waiting to be spoken. Just waiting. Someone's information waiting to be said, waiting to do its bidding. "He is called Faceless, because no one can remember what his face looks like."

"That would explain a lot," Cyborg said. "Man, I wonder if that guy is butt ugly."

"He probably is," Beast boy said.

"What can he do, besides being able to control time and send us warnings?" Robin asked.

"I was never told. Only to keep away from him. Far away from him. Rumors were spread that he had such a wicked and messed up mind that it was unpredictable, even to my father."

"He is a Schughz Kahnz," Anielle said, biting her lip. She wasn't supposed to say that. It slipped. She had control over exactly what he was, but wasn't supposed to say…and now she would pay. Anielle silently braced herself.

"A what?" Beast Boy asked.

"What kind of language is that!" Cyborg exclaimed, eyeing Anielle whose lip began to bleed from her biting to hard on it. The blood trickled down her chin. She swiftly wiped it off with the back of her hand.

"Demon Language," Raven said in a low deep voice.

"OK then…" Beast boy said. He decided to ditch his alien theory. Demons now…hmm…

"Whatever that is, I don't like the sound of it," Cyborg said.

"What does it mean?" Star asked.

Anielle didn't answer right away. She couldn't. The answer hid away in her mind. Too much would be yet known…not at this time. NOT AT THIS TIME! Yelled in her head. Her not answering would intrigue them into going right into their trap. It would. It would…

Her brother was always there. Always listening, always watching. Anielle had missed her brother so over the years, wishing for him to miraculously come back to life from an unforgettable death. Now that she thought of it, she only wished it because it was utterly impossible. Now that she learned he is alive…she would say he was too close for comfort. Her brother lurked in the shadows of her mind, listening to what she said, feeling within those words. He was in her personal feelings, _her_ personality. He was always there, and would never leave, even though Anielle desperately wanted to rid him away. But he stayed there like a piece of annoying flesh sticking to her face…but it was her mind. Her brother watched through her eyes, listened through her ears, and erased thoughts of what he thought should be tossed away into nothingness.

He caused her much pain, too much to bare now. It was a snake biting inside her stomach, making her hunch over even more. The yelling wouldn't cease; the pain would not let her go…

Anielle wanted him gone. In her mind, with every weakening power she had within herself, she fought a silent war for control over her thoughts, for her being. She kept safe priceless memories deep within her, a small part of her. Her brother already controlled most of her, owned most of Anielle, but not everything.

A sudden memory flashed before her eyes. That boy who she saw in the shadows of the orphanage, watching her. The boy who she thought was just a piece of her mixed up imagination. But it wasn't. He was more than that. He was ageless. He was Billy, the name she would never call him ever again…he was her brother…

All five sets of eyes were staring at her, waiting for her to say the meaning. Anielle didn't move. She still sat up, bent over her long legs that lay straight in front of her on the silver table. She didn't know where her arms were, since she could not feel them, possible chopped off and thrown away, numb. She didn't trust her eyes, for they told her they lay in her lap. She knew they weren't really there. They were gone.

"What does it mean?" Robin said forcefully.

The answer still didn't come into being in her mind. It had been conquered over, yet for her not to tell. Not to remember. Anielle truly wanted to tell them everything, ever last detail, but she couldn't. She just couldn't.

"Well, I guess she won't tell us," Beast boy said. Raven walked out of the room.

"If you won't tell us what it means, than what will you tell us?" Robin asked harshly.

Yup, Anielle thought, they never will trust me. They have no right to. She did have some will power over the answer she planned to say. It was the truth over all of it. The question was… would they believe it? "I will tell you that…I have no control," Anielle whispered.

"Your saying you have no control over this. How are we supposed to believe you?" Robin felt that he turned the Medical Center into an interrogation room. He was about to burst with questions. One at a time. One at a time.

"You can't," came Anielle's reply.

"So your saying all your answers are all lies?" Beast boy asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised if she was telling us all the wrong details," Cyborg said, smirking.

"Tell us the right answers, then, if they aren't true," Robin said. "We would like to hear them."

"I have said the answers…"Anielle knew this would happen. They were mad at her, the praised ones were mad at her. Somehow they would believe them, since there were no other answers she would say. The only answers she was enforced to speak.

"Look, you either have the answers or not," Cyborg said. "You are either part of this or your not. You are either on their side or your not. Which one is it?"

Star felt like a bystander watching questions being thrown at the girl. She looked so sad and innocent… forcing her to pity her. Starfire knew she had no right to, but she did anyways. She believed her, but she knew the guys wouldn't believe. What if she is trying to run away from this? What if she is fighting it? What if she is just being used?

"This man, we can't trust him," Star said. "But we can try to trust her."

"Dude! You're taking _her_ side?" Beast boy said, outraged. "She's the bad guy! Girl…Starfire, she can't be trusted."

"Friends, give her a chance," Star pleaded. " She could help us find this guy and put a stop to his plans, and we can possibly help her. She is the one with the answers. The only answers we know right now. Please, we have to believe them."

The Titans stood there in silence. She could help them find this man, the Titans knew, but would Anielle be their death?

Robin remembered a little while ago when he told Cyborg that she could be in some kind of pain. She could be, or even worse, the way she looked so cold and lonely, that she might be fighting it. Something had gotten into his mind, telling him that she was the villain in this. He remembered his words that he had spoken only an hour or so before.

'_Something about her is telling me she isn't part of a magical source.'_

'_Maybe she is…fighting it somehow.'_

He had spoken those words, and now he was denying them. What was wrong with him? Robin was holding up all this anger. He wanted to just throw it out on the girl. He wanted to rip her apart. Those questions he wanted answered….he wanted the answers. Robin would do anything for the answers. Every emotion he felt was unexplained. Why is this happening?

"Star is right, we should give her a chance," Robin said.

"What! Man, you gotta be kidding me," Cyborg said. Starfire smiled. She knew Robin would agree with her.

"She is the one with the answers. We have to trust them or we won't be able to find the man at all."

"Raven might know," Beast boy said.

"Yeah, she might know," Cyborg said.

"Hey, where did she go anyways?" Beast boy looked around.

"Anielle, tell us everything you know. We can help each other just like Star said." Robin waited silently for her to speak.

Anielle knew this would happen. She didn't want this to happen, but had no choice. Two trusted her, two disliked her, one she wasn't exactly sure about. Anielle looked at Cyborg and Beast boy, who stared at her back with distaste in their eyes. They would be the suspicious ones. That was good. It was good for her. She would be the traitor, she would never be fully trusted. This was what she wanted.

Raven had slipped out of the room, a memory screaming in her head, giving her no choice but to find it. This girl, she reminded her of something, yet she wasn't sure. Once in her room, Raven went through piles of books she had read, looking for one that recalled such an event. A book she might have read about…a week ago? Two weeks? It was a strange color, she remembered, which almost discouraged her of reading it.

She had gone through a couple of piles of books, but hadn't found it yet. She now thought of sorting them, being a bit more organized. Maybe she needed bookshelves in her room…

"It's here somewhere," Raven whispered.

Yes, yes there it was. There was the book. The nasty colored book…but wait. This wasn't good at all. It was the same color as that building Beast boy had described as a 'throw up' color green. The building of the orphanage. The one where Anielle was from. The one Ramka had been looking at.

Raven flipped through the book, looking for the right page._ Souls_ the book was called. What did green have to do with souls? She wasn't sure what page it was on out of all the 1,000 pages it containted, but she had to find it. She rushed back to the Medical Center, ready to tell them what was going on. They had to know.

Raven came back into the silent room, holding a book in one hand and flipping through the pages with the other. Beast boy raised an eyebrow, and said, "Uhh, Raven? It's not a time for reading, or are we boring you?"

She didn't answer.

"That book…" Anielle recognized that book. That was the book called _Souls_. Raven would tell them what they wanted to hear, what her brother and Ramka wanted them to know. This was the answer to all the questions. Where he was. What road to take. **The Trap.**

"Raven?"

Raven still didn't answer. She was almost at the page. Almost, it was there. She just had to find it, she was almost there.

Beast boy looked at the cover of the book. It was that color green. That color green. It was so familiar. So moving to him. That color green…

A flashback filled his vision. He and the rest of his friends were walking down the street to get some pizza. It was a regular day in Jump Town, a day they decided to take off, unless there was trouble. There was a weird looking building they had passed across the street. A building they had always passed, the strange colored one, but now stuck in his mind. He didn't know why that day the building made such a monument, but he kept a look out for it.

Another day had come, and yet again they went to get pizza. To Beast boy, they always got pizza. It was what they lived for. They once again passed that building. _That building_. An old man was standing by it, looking into a window that faced towards the street on the second floor. He seemed to be studying it somehow. Why would you study a window?

A week later they went out for pizza…and that same window studying man was stalking them. Or it could be that he was getting pizza too…but to Beast boy it seemed that he was following them, eyeing them…studying them just like he was studying that window…were they windows to him?

And yet again there was the man studying the building.

And so on and so forth, it seemed to come out as a pattern. While the others were busy wolfing down there pizza, he was deep in thought about that old man.

Then again, the man was looking at the building. Beast boy knew he would, because the last time they had gone out for pizza he had stalked them. It seemed so strange…too strange…but this time when the man was looking at the building, he was exiting out of it _while_ he was looking at the building. Beast boy noted the way he walked out of the building,like a professional man, the 'all knowing man, the old dude who owned the building. The man looked over at Beast boy who slowly tagged along after his friends, and their eyes locked for a millisecond.

There, in the eyes of the man, Beast boy saw the true him. What he really was. In that same instant he saw all his facial features. The real age of him. High cheek bones, long grey hair that reached down to his forearm, a thin line for his lips, a big nose that didn't fit onto his face, and hard eyes. Those eyes he would never forget…the color too strange to be an actual color…yet it was a color..

The color of his eyes didn't seem possible.


	5. Just Words

Wow, I am so glad you all are enjoying this. It's hard to get the chapters loaded up right away with all this other stuff going on in life.

All you pairing fans out there. There probably won't be any pairings in here. I'm not a big fan on pairings, so that pretty much explains the whole reason.

Thanks 4 reviewing! A few comments to those who reviewed my wonderful last chappie:

**Beautifully-evil: **Hehehe, suspense is wonderful, isn't it? More information coming. I'll try much to make it less confusing, cept it is sadly the way I write…and therefore I am not the best writer in the world. It's the way my sad little mind works.

**WindyDays: **Thanks a lot! The next chappie is here 

**Spiecas:** Your wish is my command. I shall not do romance.

**Kiozona.pop:** lol, glad you like it.

**KailEverwood:** The ticking has stopped. :-P lol, hopefully this next chapter isn't as confusing. I am not the best writer. I try my hardest to make it make sense.

**Mollykat:** You didn't want to sign in? How sad. Yes, I am using vocabulary words only because the stupid English language calls for it. Lets hope Carlos doesn't die on us….

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Teen Titans, and if I did, you wouldn't be watching TV anymore…

Chapter 5 

"So uhh…what's the book for?" Cyborg asked.

Raven didn't answer. She stared down blankly at the pages she held open. She had finally found it, and now she would have to read them aloud. It felt like some kind of burden to her, something she had to do that she was placed in life to speak. A weight forced Raven's shoulders to sag a bit. The urge to not read it and to throw the book away over came her, causing her vision to blur. But she had to read it. She had to. Raven was the only one who could read it, for it was in a language that only she could understand.

"Raven?"

The question would be answered when spoke the words. They were the answers. Multiple meanings would come to mind, for she had many when she read it. It was confusing to her, all the words, meaning practically nothing until now. Until these happenings. Until the girl came to the tower. Until this time came.

Until now.

Starfire, Cyborg, and Robin stood staring at her, waiting for her to speak, if she would speak. Beast boy stood there, fists clenched staring at the ground, the memory still haunting him in his mind. Even though the memory passed his thoughts, it still appeared in front of his eyes, the memory he would not forget. Anielle was hunched over, breathing slowly, trying to ignore the pain that conquered over her body.

Anielle felt faint again, but she knew she shouldn't faint. She couldn't. She wouldn't. It wouldn't seem right. Her fainting would distract them from Raven, who would tell them the information they needed to know. They would think her a lowly girl, fainting for attention, damsel in distress, and making it seem that she was more of an annoying burden than she probably already was to them. _I will not let myself faint again…_ Fighting to stay conscious, her mouth formed the two words she never would have said at this instant. "…Read it."

Raven's eyes flickered up from the pages onto Anielle's hunched over body, suddenly freed from her want to not do what she needed to. Read it? Read it? Did she know what was on these pages? Did she know that something was causing her to not speak the words? Probably. She probably knew what the book said and what it meant. Why it was important. Her eyes trailed back to the pages. She took in a deep breath, let it out, and began to read:

"_This is of nothing to fear. This is of nothing to hold. For time itself may tell its truth, for time itself may remember you. Do not fear what is written here, for it is true, just follow it, must you? Must you? Directions you may call them, trickery you may advise, but nothing of the sort is here under thy eyes…"_

"Huh?" Beast boy asked, confused. His fists unclenched when he heard what Raven was reading.

"It does sound like a trick," Star said.

"Yeah, it does…what does it mean?" Beast boy looked inquiringly at the book again. That color. That color.

"There is more," Raven said.

"Go ahead and read the rest, Raven," Robin said.

"What does it mean, though?" Beast boy asked again.

"Yes, what does this mean?" Star asked.

"There is more," Raven whispered once again.

"Go ahead, Raven," Robin said. "No interruptions."

Raven took another deep breath, ignoring the questioning stares from Starfire and Cyborg, and continued:

"_Deathly white a pale skin,_

_Eyes of nothing, nothing within,_

_You are nothing, only ashes of black,_

_But yet your soul…..smashes…"_

Raven's voice grew a pitch louder at each word, her whisper growing into a steady loud voice, reading the words in a horrid rhythm, shaping the words into life, making them dance in the shadows of the room….

"_Along the tears and smears of blood,_

_Upon the ancient yet new to mud,_

_The trail upon foot, eroded, harsh, long,_

_Death…_

_Lasts to far for just one_

_Where the sun_

_Awakens from darkness _

_Death…_

_Where he waits, watching, peering,_

_Floating, being, smashing, cracking,_

_Dry yet harsh to set upon feet,_

_Parching, bright, desolate clean…"_

Anielle listened intently to the words poor out. They were all unknown to her. Her dear brother hadn't told her anything about this…maybe it wasn't yet to be known, and she would pay for it? Anielle still felt that pain…that biting pain, but she was sure her brother could make her suffer even more than she was now. Raven's sad enchanting voice shattered the thought.

"_Entrance of death,_

_Upon which you do not dare,_

_By never again with_

_So little care…_

_Then trees, dense trees, that cover bright sky,_

_You may not trust , not love, not lie,_

_Walk, stride, run, and hide,_

_Futile it is…_

_He's there_

_Watching you_

_Forever_

_Never ending…_

_Forever his_

_Forever mine…"_

Her voice abruptly stopped. She was breathing hard, heart throbbing, as if she had just fought a tiring battle against one of the Titan's countless enemies. Cold sweat trickled down her forehead into her already salty stung eyes. Why had she felt so tired when she just read words? _Just words_? There was more on the page…but she did not wish to speak it. If Raven read the rest, it would have killed her.

Heavy silence filled the room, the words echoing in their heads. All of them still heard Raven's voice chanting those words.

"Raven," Robin said softly, looking at her with much concern. Raven looked paler then she did earlier going into the girl's mind. "Raven, are you alright?"

"Dude, you don't look too well," Cyborg said. He slowly walked towards her, and reached a hand out towards her forehead. Raven stopped him by clutching his wrist tightly.

"I'm fine," Raven said.

Cyborg nodded, and pulled his arm away when Raven let go of his robotic wrist.

"Raven, what did that all mean?" Beast boy asked once again. Raven just shook her head in reply. She wasn't quite sure what it all meant. It was so twisted, that it confused her to completely understand what whoever or whatever wrote. Seconds before she thought she knew what it meant, but now Raven was overwhelmed by what it said.

"Alright, so your saying that we don't know what this means?" Beast boy asked.

"Seems like it," Cyborg said.

"Then what do we know?" Beast boy asked, impatience growing in his voice.

"We got this poem, information that could help us, " Robin asked. Raven nodded in agreement. "We just have to guess what it means."

Anielle thought for a moment about what she had heard. It seemed to be some kind of…code? A very interesting code, that is. Maybe Anielle was supposed to help them somehow. If they were truly as stupid as Anielle's brother had stated, then they wouldn't even be able to be find Ramka. It was clear to her.

She had to help. Somehow.

"Shall we start with the first verse?" Star asked.

"Sounds good," Beast boy said.

"Wait, what about the beginning part?" Cyborg asked.

"Another warning?" Starfire asked.

"If it is, than Ramka made up that poem, and that book," Cyborg stated.

"What's the book called?" Robin asked, as Raven began to close the book.

"_Souls_," Raven replied.

"What does that color green have to do with souls?" Beast boy asked.

Raven shrugged. That's what she thought she had when she first found it. Throw up color and souls.

"It has to be from Ramka,"Cyborg said again."It has something about time in it."

"It doesn't mean that it is from the old man," Robin said.

"But it could be," Cyborg said. "_For time itself may tell its truth, for time itself may remember you. _It's gotta be from him."

"Maybe," Robin said. "Raven, does it say who the book is by? The author?"

"No," Raven said.

"That helps," Cyborg said sarcastically. "It could still be written by him."

"Maybe, but we don't know for sure," Robin said.

"Shall we work on figuring out the poem?" Star suggested.

"Yeah, we should. We'll worry about who this book is by later," Robin said.

"The next verse then," Cyborg said. "Sounded like it was describing a person. White pale skin? Several people have white pale skin in this world."

"Yes, many people do have white skin. Then it is definitely describing a person," Star agreed.

"A dead person," Anielle suggested.

"A dead person?" Beast boy said with disbelief.

"I guess that sounds right," Robin said, nodding. "A dead person. Everyone has pale skin when they are dead."

"But not white skin," Beast boy said.

"It's only a hypothesis, Beast boy," Robin said.

"Either way, it sounds crazy" Beast boy didn't like the meaning of it, if it was even _the_ meaning. A dead person? A DEAD PERSON? Are we talking about a dead thing chasing us? Or are we trying to find a _dead guy? _Dead people? Death things?

"We should have a second opinion on this," Beast boy said. "Raven, what do you think?"

"I don't know," Raven said quietly. Her eyes felt like heavy weights. She felt so tired, so worn out. Raven couldn't think straight. Maybe she should just sleep for the rest of her life…

"OK, then the next verse," Beast boy said, feeling defeated. "Did it mention something about…uh blood? And mud?"

"Yeah," Cyborg said. "And something…about a direction?"

"But _blood?_" Beast boy said.

"More of a reason for the first verse to be a dead person," Cyborg said.

"_Where the sun awakens from darkness," _quoted Robin. "East. The sun rises east. I think its east where we have to go."

"East? But what's east?" Beast boy asked.

"Where that Ramka guy is probably," Cyborg replied. "What else is there?"

"Eroded, harsh, long," said Anielle.

"Uhh…yeah," Cyborg said uncertainly. He didn't trust her. He didn't even really like her voice either, or her speaking at all. Why should he listen to her then?

"Describing our journey?" Star guessed.

"A journey? To where?" Beast boy asked.

"A journey east. A journey that has been done before might be eroded. Then hard for harsh, and then…long," Robin said.

"Sounds good," Cyborg said.

"Are we just replacing the words?" Beast boy asked.

"Not exactly," Robin said. "Next verse."

"What was the next verse again?" Star asked.

"Something about death," Cyborg said.

"Death? Again?" Beast boy said, his eyes almost popping out of his head. "Where does it not have anything about death?"

"I don't know," Robin said. "but it keeps me wondering if this poem is trying to tell us something about death."

"Creepy," Cyborg said.

"Is someone gonna die? Is it gonna be me? Are we going to our death?" Beast boy asked, his voice rising. He didn't like talking about death. He hated death. He wanted death out of life. He despised it. Death wasn't what he wanted to talk about at this young of age. Beast boy didn't want to leave his home if they were searching for a guy who writes poems about death. _Death._

"Calm down, Beast boy. No one is going to die, just calm down," Robin said.

"This guy! He could _kill_ us for all we know! Why do we have to find him?"

"Beast boy," Robin said. "Calm down."

"I…I can't. I'm just a bit freaked out here…this poem stating death like…like it's a _game_…"

"Dude, here's the plan. We will find the guy, stop him, come home, celebrate with pizza, and everything will go back to how it was," Cyborg said. "And no death."

"What about Anielle?" asked Star innocently.

"She'll go back to her… orphanage," Cyborg said. He was about to say 'for all I care', but decided against it. The girl looked pretty downtrodden, and he didn't want her to look any sadder than she already was. That was all the sympathy he would give her. Cyborg felt cruel.

"We shouldn't worry about that right now," Robin said. "Focus on poem. Beast boy, stop freaking out. We aren't going to die."

"How do you know?" Beast boy yelled. "You don't, do you? Who knows! This girl, Anielle, could come around and stab us in the back when we aren't watching! Just watch, you'll see."

"Beast boy, stop," Robin said with a bit of force in his voice.

"Why should I?"

"How do you know she would do that?"

"I don't, and same with you! You don't know if she would."

"Beast boy, calm down."

"Please do not be this mad, dear friend," Star said.

"Yeah, dude, focus," Cyborg added.

"There is no reason to be angry," Raven said.

"You guys….you…just don't understand." Beast boy threw up his hands and stormed out of the room, leaving the remaining people in the room confused.

"Jeez, what's up with him?" Cyborg said, shaking his head. "Man, did you see that angry look in his eyes?"

"Yeah," Robin said, shaking his head sadly. "Guess this death thing really freaked him out."

An uncomfortable silence filled the room again. A knew knowledge drifted into the four Titans minds:

This could be life threatening. The unknown is life threatening. This Ramka is life threatening. Their lives were threatened by what they didn't understand. And….talking about death could drive people crazy.

Anielle didn't mind the thought of death as much. Her wish was to die. But what she didn't want was the praised ones to have their lives taken from them. They had more to live for than she did. People cared about them. They can't die. They won't die. Anielle made a tiny oath to herself, with all the power she had left over herself, with all that was left of her heart, she wouldn't let them die no matter what. Even though she was this weak…person…_girl_…she would protect them.

"I get it," Star said into the silence.

"Get what?" Robin asked her.

"I…I get the poem the rest of the poem."

"You get what it means?" Cyborg asked.

"Yes, I believe I do," Star said with confidence. "I believe I have figured out."

"Let's hear it," Robin said.

"Dry yet harsh, desolate, and bright. It is describing an Earth desert. To harsh to set upon feet. The hotness. Earth temperature, the temperature which is very hot?"

"That's it," Cyborg said.

"East towards a desert!" Robin exclaimed. "He is in a desert east!"

"Yeah!" Cyborg said. "But is there a desert east somewhere?"

"We can check to make sure there is, and where," Robin said. "We know the journey is going to be long, supposedly, so it wouldn't be to close to Jump City. "

"You…you keep saying we," Anielle stated quietly. " We as in…all of…us?"

The question hung in the air for a couple of seconds. Robin hadn't really been thinking about the girl coming with them. He didn't know why, but he hated to think that he didn't care much for her. Why was this? He cared. He really did. But then why did he feel that he didn't?

"Why not?" Star asked.

"Yeah, man, why not. Maybe she'll tell us more info on this dude," Cyborg said.

"We shall find him and stop him," Star said. "With Anielle's help."

" We are going to kick his ass," Cyborg said, punching the air in front of him.

"Yes, indeed we shall do some butt kicking," Star said with a smile. "But there is more to this poem."

"We got all the information we need," Cyborg said. "Desert east. What more do we need?"

"There is another verse to it," Robin said.

"Something about trees," Anielle said.

"There ain't no trees out in the desert," Cyborg said.

"It could be a landmark," Raven said. "To tell us exactly where he is."

"So he's by trees that live in the desert," Cyborg said. "This keeps getting stranger by the minute."

"I think that is what the poem was trying to tell us," Starfire said.

"Damn poem. It should just say it in actual English, and there! It sounds like Shakespeare crap or something," grumbled Cyborg.

"Shall we tell Beast boy?" Star asked.

"Wait a sec, Star. Let him cool down for right now," Robin said. "There is more to this than we think. Does the poem say how to get there? At what time? Any details like that?"

"No," Raven said. "It doesn't." Maybe the last words on the page under the poem would say. Maybe, but she decided against reading it. She couldn't.

"So we could just fly there?" Star asked.

"Sounds too easy," Raven said.

"But it does not say we cannot fly there," Star said.

"And it does not say we can, either," Raven said.

"We don't know exactly where the desert is," Robin said. "East somewhere is all we know. Cyborg, go look up on the main computer to see if there is a desert anywhere east of Jump City."

Cyborg nodded, and left the room.

"Shouldn't Beast boy know about this?" Star asked.

"We should leave him be for a bit," Robin repeated.

"Alright," Starfire said.

Anielle slowly began to sit up a bit straighter, the pain disappearing from her body. The others wouldn't notice, they were all hooked up into this little adventurous thing. And she was coming with them. Anielle didn't want to come with them. She had enough to do with the old man already. It wasn't her time to choose what was to go on, she knew, it was the praised ones. Indeed she had no control of this.

A buzzing sound filled the room, making the room shake from its loud yet soft vibration.

"What is that?" Starfire asked, alarmed.

"I don't know," Robin said.

"Could it be another warning?" Star asked, bracing herself for the buzzing o grow louder and louder to bust her eardrums.

The buzzing suddenly stopped, and a note fell out of thin air, making it seem that if came from the ceiling. Robin caught it between his middle finger and his pointer finger. Looking at the note, his face lit up in surprise. What he saw was writing that was impossible to read.

"Where did that note come from?" Raven asked.

"I don't know," Robin said unevenly. The note contained messy small handwriting on one side of the small white piece of paper. The only thing he could read, but with difficulty, was the six names written on the top.

Dear Robin, Starfire, Raven, Beast boy, Cyborg, and Anielle… 

"It has all our names on it," Robin said.

"It is to us," Star quietly. "What does it say? Another warning? Warning us to…"

"I don't think it is another warning," Robin said. "The writing is too bunched up together to read." Robin squinted his eyes behind his mask. Nope, there was not a word he could make out.

"It might be a different language," Star suggested.

Robin shrugged, and handed the note to Star. She examined it for a couple of seconds, squinting her eyes, and sadly shook her head. She wasn't able to read it either. Star handed the note to Raven, who at once let go of the it, as if it stung her. It slowly fell onto the ground, face up.

"Raven?" asked Star, arm still out stretched.

"That note," Raven said. "That note. It has…some kind of… power surrounding it." She suddenly winced and backed against the wall. "It's strong…"

"I did not feel anything," Star said.

. "I didn't feel anything either," Robin said with concern.

Anielle stood up, her legs almost giving way from sitting too long. She had control of her legs, but her arms controlled most of her, forcing her brain to want to get to the note. Anielle slowly walked towards the it, and picked it up with her hands. She felt the strange type of magic that surrounded it, and tried not to wince. The three Titans stood there and stared at her.

"I can understand what it says," Anielle said.

"How can this be?" Star asked.

"I don't know," Anielle replied.

"What does it say?" Robin asked.

"What language is it in?" Raven said.

"English. Very messy written English," replied Anielle.

"How do we know that you're not lying?" Raven asked suspiciously.

"You don't," answered Anielle.

"Just read what it says," Robin said.

Anielle looked down at the note. The words were written in a black ballpoint pen. But was it really in English? Were her eyes tricking her into thinking it was written in English? Maybe. Maybe. Anielle began to read what the note said:

"_Dear Robin, Starfire, Raven, Beast boy, Cyborg, and Anielle…,_

_Hello, all. Nice day isn't it? Well, I believe that you have enjoyed much, in the nice sun that…didn't move? Ah yes, I always love a long Thursday afternoon. Don't you? Ah yes, long list of names to who this note is for? Of course, for it is to each one of you. And yet there isn't very much space on this piece of paper, so I will get to the point._

I believe you would like more details, am I right? Oh yes indeed. To make your wish come true… you may say I have made up some wonderful rules. Yes, rules. You must come to where I am not by flying, but as in a kind of trip regular humans would go on. Car trip, you may call it. Next lovely rule, all of you that I have addressed to this letter must come. Or you won't be able to find me. At all.

Lastly, if any of you have any crazy ideas, you must leave the Tower.

Oh, and by the way, have a little fun on your trip.

Anielle's voice stopped. That was it. That was the whole entire letter.

"Well, no flying," Robin said.

"Who would have a crazy idea about not leaving our Tower?" Star asked.

"Beast boy," Raven said.

"Taking the Tower _with_ us?" Star asked.

"You don't know what's going on in his head," Raven said.

"Yes, you are correct," Starfire said.

"OK, so we have to drive in a car," Robin said. "Who knows how long that will take."

"Pretty long," Cyborg said, walking into the room. "That note said we have to go in a car?"

"Yeah," Robin said.

"Then we'll be taking the T-car," Cyborg said with a grin.

"There are only five seats," Robin said. "And everyone has to come."

"That I can fix," Cyborg said.

"Good," Robin said. "Did you find a desert?"

"Yeah, I did. The location is kind of difficult. The computer won't show any landmarks on it or anyone living on it. Or trees. See, no trees."

"How is this so?" Star asked.

"Not sure," Cyborg said. " It is pretty far off. And the desert is huge. About 150 miles long at the least."

"How far east is it?" Robin asked.

"If we are taking a car…uh, I'm not too sure. The computer messed up on how many miles it is to get to the desert."

Robin turned to the window. The sun was setting, making the sky an orangish pinkish color. They wouldn't be able to start the trip today, it would have to be tomorrow. It was too late in the day to start their long journey. They had to get ready, get supplies on food, anything they needed. Who knows how long that would take? They needed more time.

Anielle still stood staring at the note. She had listened to everything they had said, but something confused her. There was something else on the note besides the words that were very hard to read. A marking of some sort. She couldn't quite make it out.

"There is a marking," Anielle said. The four Titans turned to her with a questioning look in their eyes.

"Where?" Robin asked.

"On the note," Anielle said.

Robin walked to where Anielle stood. "I don't see any marking on the it," he said, examining the note in Anielle's hands for a second.

"There is a marking," Anielle insisted.

"All I see is the messing writing of…who's this note from?" Robin saw no signature written on it.

"It doesn't say," Anielle said.

"Are you sure?" asked Robin.

Starfire and Cyborg joined them examining the note.

"Isn't that a kind of signature?" Cyborg asked, pointing to a little squiggly word on the bottom right corner.

"No," Anielle said. "That's the last word."

"Then where is this sign?" Star asked.

Anielle pointed to a squiggly line in the middle of the note that looked like another word the Titans couldn't make out.

"Wait, wait, wait. How can you read this?" Cyborg asked suspiciously.

"That is a good question," Raven said who still stood against the wall. "Care to tell us?"

"I…don't know," Anielle said. It was true. She truly didn't know. The writing was very clear to her as day, every letter visible through her eyes, in English. Or maybe it was just translated in English so it was able for her to understand it. That, she didn't know.

"Guys, loosen up. She told us it was in English. Maybe she is an expert on messy handwriting." Robin still didn't see where the marking was. "Where is the marking?"

"Right here," Anielle said, pointing to some squiggly lines that looked just like a word. Robin took a closer look at it, and realized that it was some kind of sign. There was no messy letters in it like the words surrounding it, just lines with points and dots.

"What is it?" Star asked.

"It looks weird," Cyborg said. "Looks…alienish."

"Whatever it is, it doesn't look too good," Robin said.

"What if it was the person's signature?" Starfire suggested. "Some humans have signs instead of signatures, am I right?"

"Yeah," Robin said. "But not in the middle of the note."

"What if it was Ramka who sent this?" Cyborg asked.

Dead silence.

"It has to be," Cyborg continued. "If he can send warnings, then he can send notes out of thin air. And he could have listened to what we said, and he could have written the poem with all the clues in it. It has to be this Ramka guy."

"I do not think I want to know what else he can do if he can send these warnings and paper out of the air," Starfire said with a sad smile.

"It's all crazy," Cyborg said. "This Ramka guy is becoming crazier by the second…"

"It is unbelievable," Anielle found herself saying in a slightly false sounding tone. "But it did happen. And many other things may happen that seem like illusions but are really there. They really are happening."

"She may be right," Robin said.

"So your saying, anything can happen?" asked Cyborg.

"I guess," Anielle sad.

"Great. That's just great," Cyborg said. "Then Beast boy freaking out about this death thing could be…true." He left the room without another word.

"He could be watching us," Raven said.

"I do not like the feeling of being watched by such a man," Star said, shivering.

"The only thing we can do is find him and stop him," Robin said. "And that we will do."


	6. The Beginning

Yes, finally chapter 6 is here. Sorry you had to wait a bit...patience...patience...the story must go on. A bit of movement...yeah, but not much. If you didn't notice already, the story is kinda slow paced. Hint hint...its gonna be long.

Some credit shall be given. Thankies a lot mollykat for readin it over ahead of time and revising it. I had a bit of a brain fart...yet don't we all? mollykat helped this chapter get a little more into character.

Yet, that isn't all who I thank. To all the reviewers who are going along with the path of this story... you all keep me writing, just the feeling of someone waiting for you to continue the story...comments to all you lovely people out there:

**beautifully-evil:** Yes that was an original poem written by me. If anyone steals it than let them die ;) I am sorry I am very confusing, but believe me, everyone I know could agree with you.

**mollykat:** Umm, whatever you said about those redwall books I'll take your word for it, haven't read them though, well...only a few pages. Thankies again.

**WindyDays:** Cliffie :) I think you need a new chair 0.o

Chapter 6

Anielle looked out the window at the plain grayish passing buildings. To her slight disliking, she saw people enjoying their lives, smiling, and laughing. A smile was never misplaced, one was always there either revealed or hidden beneath their beautiful faces.

Different nationalities took over these people, making them mixed and colorful. A breathtaking painting held out for the entire world to see. Anielle wished for that kind of happiness some day, but she knew it never would come to her.

The Teen Titans and Anielle were all in the T-car, in the nice comfortable new and improved seats, and high tech seat belts, which happened to be in Cyborg's best interest. It was around noon, and they only had just begun their journey to find this Ramka guy. Due to Beast boy's complaints about not wanting to wake up at 7 in the morning, they got a late start.

Anielle hadn't remembered the last time she had been in a nice car like this, or if she ever had been in one in the first place. She only rode in big ugly tan colored vans when she was being moved form one "prison" to another. This car was very up to date, possibly by the second she guessed. It had a whole bunch of cool gadgets she never dreamed of seeing, some she thought amazing, some she thought…too weird to be an idea of a praised half human being. Though, it was pretty amazing all the same.

Last night she would never forget. It seemed too unreal to her, but she sure it happened. Of course it happened. It was as if they all forgot about the whole adventure thing. After figuring out that poem, they just went to do whatever they wanted to do, went where they wanted to, roamed where they wanted, said what they want, as those giggly girls put it.

Now Anielle wondered how exactly they got that kind of information. Secret cameras? In the living room? In their _rooms?_

All in a flash, they were all in the living room, except Cyborg and Beast boy. The others weren't really sure where they were. Beast boy was probably lurking somewhere still angry about the whole death thing, and Cyborg, well…maybe the same. Not remembering how she got there, Anielle looked around for sight of any video type cameras. She half expected to find one with its red light blinking.

"We shall find Beast boy and tell him," Star said. "But first, we shall properly introduce ourselves!" Anielle found that Starfire was pulling her into the room. Interesting choice of travel, Anielle thought bleakly.

"Let go of her, Star," Robin said. "You could be hurting her."

"I am sorry," Starfire said, and let go. She was relieved when there was no red mark left on Anielle's bare wrist.

"You want to properly…introduce each other?" Anielle asked.

"Yes!" Starfire said, smiling. "This is Robin, Raven, the green one was Beast boy, and the other was Cyborg, and I am Starfire."

"I…know," Anielle said.

"How is this so?" Star asked.

"Word gets around," replied Anielle. "But nice to meet you…properly."

"Indeed this word does get around," Star agreed.

"We are kind of the heroes of this city," Robin said.

"Wouldn't be surprised if we weren't known," Raven added.

"Yes, friend Raven and Robin, you do have a point," Star said.

"I'll go find Beast boy and tell him about everything. Anielle, you can make yourself at home," Robin said, walking out of the room. "We will start our trip tomorrow morning, early if Beast boy will cooperate."

"I'll go find Cyborg," Raven said, and exited the same way as Robin did, leaving a smiling Starfire and a confused Anielle.

"Nice place," Anielle said quietly. She felt puny inside the massive living room. There was a small counter and a fridge made small kitchen, and a game station lay on the floor in front of the couch. Even then, it was better than any house she had ever been in. To Anielle, it was all she had ever dreamed about going in such a place.

"It is a nice home," Starfire agreed.

"I bet it could fit all the homeless," Anielle said in a small voice.

"What was that you said?" Star asked.

"Nothing."

"OK," Star said smiling ". What would you like to do this nice Earthly evening?" Star asked.

"I uhh…." Anielle wasn't sure what to say. Usually on these evenings she would be sulking in a small room in the orphanage where all the crappy old books were kept dated twenty years ago, or eat lumpy microwave food the orphanage provided. She didn't like either crappy choice, but that was all the orphanage could provide. Stupid orphanage…

Anielle was being asked what she wanted to do. Not forced. A choice. It felt so strange to her…maybe being with the Teen Titans would give her a new experience to life. Starfire was so nice…

"What would you like to do?" Star asked again. "Watch a movie with some corn that pops? Or play a game with a station?"

Jump City was now behind the T-car, disappearing slowly. _Goodbye Titans Tower. Good by strange orphanage. Goodbye giggly girls. Goodbye everything I ever knew…_

Cyborg was driving, Robin sat next to him, Raven sat next to Anielle, and a bit behind Raven to the left sat Starfire and Beast boy. The seating was kind of confusing, there being four seats in the back and two in the front. Whatever Cyborg had done to his car, it worked. It even had cup holders and your own heater and air conditioner.

"What did you want to show us, Cyborg?" Robin asked. It was early that morning, and Beast boy wasn't up yet. Only Star, Raven, Robin, and Anielle stood in front of Cyborg and the T-car.

"New improvements," Cyborg said coolly, tapping his car.

"I thought your car was already improved," Robin said.

"Yeah, it was, but now it's newer," Cyborg brightly.

"What did you do to it?" Robin asked.

"I improved it, what do you think I did?" Cyborg said.

"As in?" Raven asked in a bored voice.

"I added an extra seat, for…Anielle," Cyborg said with a bit of distaste in his voice. He opened the back car door, showing four seats somewhat squished in the back. "The seats have cup holders, your own air conditioning and heater, and enough foot room to put your crap, I mean…uhh… things you can put in my car to keep you from being bored, and of course, moveable chairs, and added comforters." He demonstrated moving the seats back and forth, and showed how comfortable the seats were.

"That's great Cyborg," Robin said.

"Yes indeed it is," agreed Star. "But why such new Earth improvements?"

"And when would we need these things?" Robin added.

"Since we don't know how long our trip is going to be," Cyborg said. "I added some adjustments. Just to make things comfortable. You never know when you need cup holders."

"Is that all that you wanted to show us?" Robin asked.

"No, not in the least," Cyborg said. "Only the beginning."

"You mean there's more?" Raven asked bluntly.

"Yeah. There's more. A TV with cable installed with over a hundred channels, I've always wanted one in here. Not much use to me, though, since I'll be driving this baby." He tapped his car again lovingly. "A fridge is in the back here, but you see, you _can't_ see it." He showed the fridge door that camouflaged into the surrounding color of the inside of the car."

"You just think of everything, don't you?" Raven said.

"What's that thing next to the fridge that I see is hidden in the color of your car?" Star asked.

"Oh, yeah, that. And last but not in the least…a porta potty. It's a porta potty, Star."

"A _what?_" Robin asked.

"A toilet. Don't worry; it has self-plumbing," Cyborg said.

"It does not look like an Earth toilet to me," Starfire said.

"I really don't want to-"

"How will we get any privacy?" Raven interrupted. "I mean, if we really want to use the…toilet."

"Everyone else will just not have to look," Cyborg said. "Or you don't have to use it, as you said."

"Uh, Cyborg? There will be rest stops on the way," Robin said. "We don't need all this stuff."

"You never know," Cyborg said. "There won't be any of this stuff in the desert."

"But in a _car_?" Robin asked. "I think that's getting kind of out of hand. Where did you get these ideas?"

"Let's not get into the details," Cyborg quickly.

"I do not think I shall be using that toilet," Starfire said.

"I don't think it's a toilet," Anielle said.

"Are we there yet?" Beast boy said in a bored voice.

"No," Robin said.

"You sure? It seems to me that we've been traveling for hours," Beast boy said, fiddling with the moveable chair.

"Dude, don't break that," Cyborg said, looking in the middle mirror. "I spent all night on it. Without any sleep."

"You didn't have to make them moveable," Beast boy said. "Are we there yet?"

"Beast boy, it has only been an hour," Robin said.

"Shall we watch a movie to make you not bored?" Star suggested.

"No," Raven said, who had her nose in a book.

"Why couldn't we just fly?" Beast boy said. "It would have gone a lot faster."

"We don't know exactly where the desert is," Robin said.

"Why does it have to be a desert?" Beast boy asked.

"Don't ask me," Robin said.

"Great," Beast boy said. "Is this Ramka guy crazy or what?"

"Yeah, he seems pretty crazy," Cyborg agreed.

"Who would live in a desert?" Beast boy asked. "A desert out of the middle of no where? Why am I coming anyways? Why couldn't I just stay back at the tower with the Titans East? Why-"

"Shut up Beast boy," Raven said.

"But-"

"Shut up."

To Raven's comfort, Beast boy closed his mouth.

They had been on the road for about five hours. A very long five hours. Cyborg almost fell asleep at the wheel from lack of sleep, so he turned on some music that would hopefully keep him awake. The music annoyed Raven, making Cyborg turn off the music, which made Beast boy and Robin mad because they liked that song. Cyborg turned on the music making Raven mad yet again, causing chaos in the T-car. Star tried to calm them down, but it was futile. Yelling had occurred, Robin, Raven, Robin, Cyborg, Starfire yelling all at once. The yelling made Anielle's head ache, so she butt in with the yelling, which caused even more noise.

Cyborg:Shut up! Your distracting the driver! Which is me!

Beast boy:I will shut up once you turn on the radio!

Raven:Leave it off. Leave the disrupting music off. It's all just a bunch of blurred noise. No sense in listening to it.

Beast boy:It was a good song!

Cyborg:Shut up!

Starfire:Please, dear friends, be quiet. You are all too loud!

Anielle:It is really loud in hear. Calm down.

Raven:There is no reason to get so upset. If you just leave the radio off then we all will be fine.

Robin: Leave the radio off!

Beast boy: But it was a good song! Turn it back on!

"Shut up!" Cyborg had yelled. "Enough already! We'll leave the stupid radio off!"

"But it was a good song!" repeated Beast boy.

"Who cares! Everyone just be quiet."

Silence filled the T-car. Beast boy silently got out of his seat and went to the fridge to pick something to eat. A few minutes later a foul smell had filled the car.

"Ugh, what's that smell?" Cyborg said in disgust.

"Nothing," Beast boy said quickly, sitting back in his seat.

Only an hour ago noise had filled the automobile, and now long boring silence rung in there ears.

"Turn on the radio," Beast boy said.

"Not this again," Cyborg said, yawning. "Though it would be nice to listen to the radio…"

"We shouldn't do something we can't all agree on," Robin said.

"Robin is right," Starfire said.

"I'm hungry," Beast boy complained, his stomach growling.

"There's food in the fridge," Cyborg said.

"Not anymore there isn't," Beast boy said. "I kind of ate it all an hour ago."

"You what!" Cyborg yelled.

"I ate all the food," Beast boy said in a small voice.

"Dude! I put a lot of food in there! You could not have eaten it all! And that was supposed to be for all of our trip!The _whole _trip!"

"Sorry, but there wasn't enough for just one person," Beast boy said. He sniffled a burp that almost escaped from his mouth.

"Now that is hard to believe," Cyborg said. "You ate all our food, now we're going to have to stop."

"We would have had to stop to sleep anyways. You have to get some rest, Cyborg," Robin said.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Cyborg said. He looked at the sign of the road that said 'Rest Stop, Food, and Gas, 10 miles.' "You guys want to stop for the night?"

"It's still light out," Robin said. "Maybe the next rest stop."

"Uhh, guys? I gotta use the rest room…" Beast boy said.

"Use the toilet in the back," Cyborg said.

"I uhh…"

"Now _what_?" Cyborg said.

"I kinda broke the toilet…it wouldn't flush. The handle broke…off…I think."

"You think?" Cyborg asked harshly.

"It broke off!"

"What! You eat all our food, and now you break my toilet! _The handle_? Oh come on!" Cyborg yelled, outraged.

"I guess that explains that foul smell that won't go away," Robin said. "Cyborg, I guess we could stop at this next rest stop."

"Beast boy, you little green stain, your going to pay for what you have done to my car," Cyborg grimly.

"Dude, I'm sorry!" Beast boy said. "It's not like I tried to break the toilet and eat all the food on purpose."

"Yeah, it's just in his being to make everything go wrong," commented Raven.

"Hey! Not true! I deal with high tech stuff all the time," Beast boy said. "If you call the toilet a high tech…thing…"

"It was a high tech thing," Cyborg said. " Wait, it's not a thing. It's part of my car! Until you touched it and used it for your own personal needs."

"Haha," Beast boy said sarcastically.

"So how do we get rid of the smell that is not pleasant?" Star asked. "I believe it is getting quite worse than it was before."

"We air out the car," Cyborg said, opening all the windows. A cold gust of wind flew in, making the six passengers shiver in their seats. Luckily, the foul smell drifted away, replacing a fresh grassy smell from the lush green hills that surrounded them. Cyborg rolled up once the smell was completely diminished.

"Whoa! What was that!"Beast boy exclaimed, pointing to a gray lump that was on the left side of the road. Beast boy looked out of the back of the car when they swiftly passed it.

"I don't know," Cyborg said, looking in the middle mirror. "Some kind of rock probably."

"I don't think it was a rock," Robin said. "It was moving I think."

"We were moving, not it," Cyborg said.

"I think it was a person. Look! The person is lifting up his head!" Beast boy pointed at the small gray thing with a bit of flesh showing that probably was the face. The person was too far away to see the face of the man, or if it was a different species or gender.

"What the heck?" Cyborg said, confused. "A man sleeping out here?"

"It is pretty quiet," Robin commented. "There aren't really any cars around."

"True," Cyborg said. "Cars began to disappear about an hour ago."

"That does not sound normal?" Star asked.

"I guess not," Robin said.

"A lot of remote areas out in the country side don't have a lot of cars driving around," Anielle found herself saying. Her brother was using her to talk again…please make him stop…. "So it is kind of normal."

"Oh," Starfire said. "I guess that does make sense."

"Are we even in the country side?" Robin said.

"I think that grey lump is getting up and walking towards us," Beast boy said numbly. The lump was only a small figure now, and was about to dissapear around a big hill to the right of the T-car.

"It is?" Cyborg said with disbelief in his voice. "Or are you just making up these things?"

"He is getting up! Freaky, man," Beast boy said, turning away from the window. "He could catch up to us at the next exit. I think we should keep going."

"You just said you were hungry," Robin said.

"He's always hungry," Cyborg said.

"I don't want that dude following us," Beast boy said.

"There's no way he could know where we're going," Cyborg said.

"How do you know?"

"I just know, alright?"

"He could have something to do with this Ramka guy," Beast boy said spookily.

"That's impossible," Robin said.

"How do you know?"

"Not this again," Cyborg said, rolling his eyes. "Stop asking questions, Beast boy."

"Why should I?"

"We are going to stop at the next rest stop," Cyborg concluded. "We are all hungry, and probably you most of all. End of discussion."

"But what if-"

"Let us not speak of that human lump any longer," Star said to Beast boy. "Maybe it is just moving to a new spot to rest his eyelids."

"Maybe," Beast boy said, slouching in his seat. "Maybe."

"Glad that's settled," Raven said, putting down her book. "Maybe we should have this Ramka guy shut Beast boy up again."

"Great idea," Cyborg said.

"It … would be pleasant," Starfire said carefully.

"Thanks a lot guys," Beast boy said dully. "Thanks a lot."

"Oh, you're welcome," Cyborg said cheerfully. He quickly turned off the exit that somehow appeared without him realizing it right away, making his tires screech a bit. He swore silently. The hill that made the big turn blocked full vision of it.

"Well, we're here," Cyborg said. "Wonder what restaurants they got."


	7. Where the Voices Sing

Next chapter. Yes…finally! After all this time, it has finally come. Yippee! Well…I don't expect that much of excitement. It's probably just me who is excited for finally _getting_ to it and posting it and pending for all your wonderful reviews. Just me, I guess. Even though it is kind of short…. its up.

All of you might think…. Chapter 7… and I don't know what the hell is going on! Or…. what the hell does this all mean?

I'm sorry if you feel that way, but explanation will come in the next chapter or the chapter after that. Sad…more waiting.

I must be crazy….

Cliffies, the wonderful world of cliffies, eh?

Anyways…thanks for all the wonderful reviews! Here are some little note to you:

**Beautifully-evil:** Sorry about the weirdness. To me, it fits Beast boy perfectly xD I should read your fanfic(s)….if I only had the time. There isn't enough time in one day! I'm sorry…so so sorry….

**Mollykat:** Answers. Answers. Here is your answer: I don't have your answer.

**WindyDays: **and better…and better…now that's creepy.

**Chapter 7**

"There is no way I am going in there!"

"Come on, Beast boy. A little broken down building isn't that bad."

"It's bad enough. Who knows? It could cave in on us and kill us!"

"Not this death thing again. You're exaggerating. Nothing is going to kill us except your stupidity."

"I'm not going in there," Beast boy said once again, ignoring Cyborg's side comment. "You can't make me."

"Come on Beast boy," Cyborg said, annoyed now of Beast boy's lack of cooperation. "We're all hungry. Just get out of the car."

"It could be empty…"

"No, it's not. Get out of the car!"

"Hell if I'm going in there!"

"You're hungry, right? Of course you're hungry. You are always hungry! You little…. eating out of _my_ fridge…you little…" he shook his head, and focused. "Look. We're all hungry. Get out of the car. Now."

"I'm not that hungry. Let's go to the next stop? Please?"

"That won't be for another twenty minutes. I'm sure you can't wait that long."

"You don't know the amazing things I can do."

"I don't think I want to know," Cyborg said, raising an eyebrow. His stomach growled lightly, making him feel even more annoyed. "We'll let you starve, then, if you won't come with us."

"Fine then."

Beast boy was slouched in his seat, his arms crossed, and glaring at Cyborg who held the door open impatiently for him. The T-car was parked out in front of a broken down building that was somewhat a 'restaurant' from what they could tell. It had faded letters spelling 'The Restaurant' on the front.

It was not the best restaurant they have seen (the only one, actually), but it was the closest, and closest was good.

Everything surrounding them was broken down as if it was a ghost town, or better yet, a ghost rest stop. There was a sign somewhere on the way up to the little town that was squished between two greenish hills, reading 'Welcome To Ausshi', which really said 'W l ome o A ss i". The other greenish colored letters had faded away, though somehow it was still legible.

"This place is _haunted_," Beast boy said. "I'm not going to eat here...it's just too creepy. Which makes me not hungry." He grinned, as if he had won a wonderful victory, "I would be hungry in twenty minutes."

"Then your staying in the car," Cyborg said. "We're not leaving on your twenty minute in search of hunger adventure."

"Fine," Beast boy said stubbornly. Cyborg closed the door, locking Beast boy in the car with only his window cracked an inch.

"This place is kind of creepy," Star said carefully. "It seems to be so quiet. Is this normal for a rest stop to have no living thing in it?"

"I don't know," Robin said. "Haven't been to one of these places for quite some time."

"It's not that bad," Cyborg said. "C'mon, let's see what this place has got to eat. Maybe this place has some hidden food around here. Looks may be deceiving."

"Do you know if this is usual, friend Cyborg?" Starfire asked as Cyborg led the way through the door of the building that almost crumpled away at his touch. What they saw was no surprise to them, but a little disappointing, of course. The place was deserted. Not a chair was in the square building, only the millions of pieces of dust, a creaky floorboard, and a small opening at the other end.

"I do not think this is an Earthly restaurant," Starfire said, looking around suspiciously. "Usually restaurants are filled with humans who would like to eat the food."

"It sure isn't a restaurant," Cyborg said. "And to answer your question, I don't think this is normal."

Starfire nodded slowly.

"No hidden food," Robin said. "I guess we'll have to wait to go to the next rest stop."

"Is this even a rest stop?" Raven said.

"If it was, it was a long time ago," Robin said. "Let's go, before this building suddenly falls on us."

"You really believe it's going to fall on us?" Cyborg said sarcastically.

"No…. not really. You never know," Robin said.

"Let us not stick around and find out," Starfire said, now looking at the roof suspiciously. It obviously had holes from busy termites. "I wonder how long it has been…this way?"

"I don't know, Star," Robin said, turning around toward the doorway. Before he could reach the door, (which really wasn't a door anymore) a voice rang out all around him, making him jump. Everything seemed to shake for a split second, but the thought slipped away once the voice spoke.

_Where are you going?_

It was a frightening voice that rung in Robin's head after it had been said The chilly ting to it ran up and down his spine, like ice falling down his shirt by a mischievous prank planned by Beast boy. There was no trace of any gender, or if the person was familiar to him. He did not expect it to be.

"Who said that?" Robin asked, whipping around, his cape flying in the air.

There was no one there, except four familiar people staring at him as if he was going crazy.

"Robin, nobody said anything," Cyborg said. "Not a word."

"You heard that voice, right?" Robin asked, not wanting to be the only one to be hearing the voice. "Someone said, 'Where are you going?' You heard it?"

"No, we did not hear a thing," Starfire said, a little bit of worry showing in her voice.

"Then…. I must be hearing things," Robin said, shaking his head. He swore he had heard someone talking. Maybe it was just this building getting to him. Maybe it would cave in, maybe the voice asking where he was going would _make_ the ceiling cave in on them if he did not answer. Robin new that was insane.

Anielle heard the voice, but a striking pain kept her from telling. She silently swore at her brother for doing this to her. To the Teen Titans…for everything…

As Robin began to turn around again towards the non-door, the voice spoke again.

_Where are you going?_

Stopping in mid-turn, Robin swiftly looked around for the source of the voice, knowing that he would not find anything. He saw the questioning stares of his teammates, and the blank stare from Anielle. He thought he had seen something sparkle in her eyes, but it quickly disappeared.

"Did you hear that?" he asked breathlessly to no one in particular.

"You're going crazy, man," Cyborg said. "Just keep walking, so we can get out of this place. You're blocking the doorway."

"I swear I heard something," Robin said quietly. "I swear."

"You shouldn't swear about something that isn't there, Robin," Cyborg joked.

"I would very much like to get out of this place now," Starfire said when Robin made no move to get out of the way.

Robin nodded slightly, deep in thought, and started out the doorway toward the T-car with its green passenger waiting within. Beast boy looked out the car window as they approached grinned at them.

"I knew you guys wouldn't stay there for five minutes!" he exclaimed.

"Shut up," Cyborg said, climbing into the driver's seat.

"I knew it was too creepy for you," Beast boy said.

"No, it was empty, not creepy," Robin stated. "Remember, you were the one who was too scared to even step in the building."

"Yeah, sure, whatever, but I was right! Now onto the next rest stop without all these forty year old buildings."

"More like a hundred," Cyborg said.

"And maybe this one will not be deserted," Starfire said hopefully.

"Let's keep our finger's crossed," Cyborg said, yawning a little.

"You guys should listen to me more often," Beast boy said teasingly, but more to himself than to the others. Everyone else ignored this comment.

Once everyone was in their seats with seatbelts on, Cyborg drove the car out back on to the main freeway, leaving behind the little ghostly rest stop called Ausshi, and hopefully everything else that could be in it. Except…. they did not.

Robin still was spooked about the voice he had heard, and that nobody else did seem to hear it. He still heard the echo of the genderless words that he thought he made up. Maybe they were made up by his mixed up imagination he was having since Anielle came into their lives, and maybe they were not. Just before he led himself once again to believe he was going crazy, the voice came back. This time to Robin's utter distress, it was not from all around him, it was inside his head.

_Why do you leave me?_

He jumped in his seat, startling Cyborg.

"Dude, you all right?" Cyborg asked. "You look you've seen a ghost. You hearing those so called 'voices' again, or what?"

"No," Robin said quickly. "No, just a…. thought startled me, that's all."

"This reminds me of something," Cyborg said distantly, "you know… on our way back to the tower yesterday? Dude, I swear that I saw something that you didn't see or hear. Or feel…it seems similar."

"Yeah…it does," Robin said.

Raven gave them a quick glance, and opened up to her book to the page she left off on.

Robin took a quick look in the back seat just to make sure none of them had said it, sighed, and met the questioning stare of green sparkling eyes. He gave her a weak grin, showing her that he was all right, and turned back to the front.

_Why do you leave me, Robin?_

Maybe he was crazy…maybe something is driving him to believe so…or…what if this was Ramka's doing? Robin shook his head, trying to think up other explanations to the voice.

_Why? _

His breath quickened as he noticed something distinct came out of the words. Female. It was definitely female. No male voice would say words so lightly with such yearning depth in every syllable.

_Why?_

A female in distress, a female crying out to him. Who, then? _Who is speaking to me? _he said into his own mind, but only to the cause of surprising himself. He had just spoken into his own _mind_, or maybe he was just thinking these things? It befuddled him way too much that he pushed the thought out of his mind, along with all the others.

Robin did not exactly expect an answer, and sighed again when one did not come. Was he going crazy? _Is_ he crazy? Of course he was. _I am going crazy… _he thought, bemused.

"Cyborg, can you turn on some music? This silence is driving me beyond insane," Beast boy said from the back seat.

_You don't know what insane is,_ Robin thought coldly, _you don't even know the beginning._

"No," Raven said, completely entranced in her book.

"Oh, come on Raven! Why do you always have to _read_?"

Raven did not answer, fighting back all the sensation of hitting Beast boy on the head with her book.

"Don't you have anything else to do besides reading?"

"Ignoring your voice," Raven said simply.

"Please, friend Beast boy, leave her be," Starfire said. "We do not need to listen to this music right now. Silence is…very nice. Very nice indeed."

"It's too quiet! Cyborg, turn on the music."

"Not this again," groaned Cyborg. "Silence is golden. Especially when you're not talking."

"I wouldn't talk if you would turn on the music," Beast boy said, a little hurt showing in his voice.

"We don't need it on," Cyborg said impatiently. "Why don't you sleep or something? Do some quiet activity, like…talking to yourself…without…really talking. _Just… be… quiet_."

To everyone's relief, silence rang inside the car, but everyone wondered how long it would last.

"Car trips," whispered Anielle under her breath.

"What about car trips?" Beast boy asked to everyone's dismay. Anielle swore under her breathe again for even speaking a word. Why had she had to ruin the only quiet they had gotten from the beginning of the trip?

"Beast boy, can you please be quiet," Robin said. "Just to the next rest stop? Please?"

"What's the problem with me talking?" Beast boy asked dumbly, knowing what the exact answer would be.

"Everything," Cyborg said.

"Yeah, thanks a lot."

"Your very welcome," Cyborg said.

"Beast boy could you just be quiet," Robin said again. "It would be-"

_Why? _

The voice was back.

_Why do you walk away as if you do not care?_

Robin closed his eyes tightly behind his mask, seeing darkness, and feeling the deep pain and the dying passion within the words that were being spoken. A little thought sprung in his mind, but of course, it only lasted for a few seconds. He was walking?

_Why do you do this to me? Why? Why?_

"It would be…?" Beast boy said.

Robin did not hear him. He only heard the echoing voice of agony inside his head. His hands were clutched into fists, the pain he felt overwhelming. Who was this girl, if it was a girl? Or a woman? What is this madness?

_Who are you?_ Robin screamed out into his mind. _Who are you?_

The voice did not answer. Not yet, anyway. It seemed like the pained voice left him a few seconds to give him a breather. He felt the irresistible hate for voices just then, even if it was crying out to him for help. Or just to annoy the hell out of him.

_Robin._

Robin swore in his mind, his mouth was closed shut, as if it was always that way the day he was born.

_Robin. Ignore it. Fight it._

To his relief, it was a different voice. It was full of hope and strength as if it was the sun on a stormy day. Robin heard that voice before, but he could not quite place it just then.

The words it spoke were truly a light in the dark place in his mind. The Light. Where the voices sang.

_Don't listen. Fight it._

Fight it. How could you fight a voice?

_Fight it._

The other painful voice came again, louder than before.

_Why do you leave me? Why? Now of all times when I needed you most of all?_

The distress dwindled in his mind, tearing him apart deep inside. The only thing that left him feeling real was The Light, repeating the words that kept him strong in his weak state.

_Robin….do not leave me….please….._

The two voices swerved angrily in between each other in the darkness, the Sad and the Light. The words were not making sense as they blurred into each other. Robin felt as if he were the eyes watching a battle between the good and the evil. Though, he did not think the sad voice was evil at all, only…misunderstood, like all people in this day and age.

_Why?_

_Fight it…._

_Robin….why?_

_Fight it…._

_Why?_

_Ignore it…_

_Why do you leave me?_

_Fight…._

_Leave me…_

_It…_

_Please…_

_Ignore it…_

_Why?_

Voices.

All he heard were these….

Voices….

Feeling helpless, he felt that he had to say something, or do something. Deep within himself, he felt the urge to yell out, to gain control of the war, to be joining The Light and conquer the battle.

While the helplessness drowned him, trying to make him go down into deep, deceiving water, he gathered up all his will power from his soul that he had stored up from deep inside himself. He felt the strong sensation of power, but he knew he could only use it for a split second. With only a that much to spare…he said…

_ENOUGH!_

Silence.

"Would be, Robin?" Beast boy said.

"Huh?" Robin said, finally seeing the front of the car.

"Did you forget what you just said?" Beast boy asked.

"What did I just say?" Robin said, confused. Had he said something?

"Give it a rest, Beast boy," Cyborg said. "Stop harassing him."

"I wasn't harassing him!"

"Shut up," Raven said.

"What's the big deal?"

"You talking, now just give it a rest," Cyborg said.

Beast boy rolled his eyes, and looked out his window. The T-car was swiftly passing green hills that now faded in the last of the sunlight. The sun was setting. One day passed since they had started their journey.

A comfortable silence filled the car once again, leaving Robin to his own thoughts, and t rest of them to theirs. The slim hate of voices was still there, but Robin actually hoped to hear the voice that he had seen as The Light. The Light. He knew it was crazy, but he had to give it a try. He wanted to talk to that voice, privately, without interruption. He had questions, and he wanted answers.

_Who are you?_

His voice echoed in his mind, knowing that only the voice he wanted would hear. And hopefully answer. Robin had the feeling that the sad voice was gone for good. Robin did not get what just went on inside his head, but he believed he did something good, somehow, and he liked the after feeling of accomplishment.

A few minutes passed as Robin waited silently for an answer. He pondered about these 'voices in the head' being some kind of code or something, it taking awhile to receive and send messages. It was a crazy thought, he knew, but it was all he had keep him sane about it. He truly believed he had gone beyond crazy.

"Ten miles until the next rest stop," Cyborg said, reading off a sign that passed them swiftly. "Great. I'm starved."

"How long is this….ten miles?" Starfire asked, peering at Cyborg's back.

"Couple of minutes," Cyborg said.

"Yes, finally," Beast boy said. "Food."

"And maybe food will shut you up for the rest of the trip," Raven commented.

"Or maybe we can just buy duck tape at the store, if there is one at the next rest stop," Cyborg said. "Just to keep his mouth shut."

Beast boy childishly stuck his tongue out at both of them. "Don't get your hopes up." He was about to say more, but his stomach gave a noisy growl. "Are we there yet?"

"No," Cyborg said.

"….now?"

"Shut up already…"

"Come on, Beast boy," Robin said. "Give it a rest." Just as he spoke those words to Beast boy, they drained away from his memory as water evaporates swiftly in a scorching desert. The Light had returned, with an answer he had not quite expected, but it satisfied him deep down inside, within his soul.

_No one…of importance._

He had asked the same question to someone, and that someone answered the same exact answer. Realizing that he had wanted the same thing from this same exact person, he thought t was all too easy, way too simple. Robin grinned to himself, fighting off the sensation to turn around and smile at her. He knew, just somehow, who it would be all along, but it never entered his mind fully until now.

What struck Robin dumb was exactly _how_ it happened, _why _it happened, and _who_ was the pained voice. To many questions unanswered…everything is just to…

"Vague," Robin said bluntly, not aware of the comfortable silence in the T-car.

"What is vague, friend Robin?" Starfire asked politely from the back seat.

"Everything. Everything is vague, Star."

"And so it will be until it happens," Anielle said too quietly for the human ear to hear.

And so it would be.


	8. Crimson

Hello one and all. Next chapter is up, and all is good. Well…of course nothing is good in this world (except for summer time, and chocolate…and…other…stuff…), but maybe this chapter will bring a smile to your face.

Beware, this chapter is longer than the others.

Thanks to all those reviewed! Reviews at the bottom, just so you don't get distracted before the chapter has started. Distraction can be very distracting…enough said.

I thought about it some, and thought that perhaps you guys would like to have a bit of a pronunciation lesson. (Distracting enough?) Hah, you aren't going to get quizzed or anything. Just something to keep in mind while you read these chapters. These are some of the words that may be confusing how to pronounce (names, etc.), so I will lend you a hand and show you how I say them as I do. Only a couple, so do not worry your pretty little head about it. You may say them however you like. Don't matter to me.

  
Anielle: _Anne yell _(just those two words…and that's how I imagine its said)

Ramka: _Rawmkaw_ (crappy way of showing you, but it works. Kind of like Raw…then the mmm sound… the a bird like 'kaw'.)

Aushi: _Awshee _(remember from last chappie? Hehe…not really important anymore, I guess, but all the same.)

I won't insult your knowledge of all the other places and names.

**Disclaimer:** I don't own the Teen Titans. Add it to the list of things I want. And the things I will never get.

**Chapter 8**

It all happened too fast. All the events played in order in their depths of their minds, yet it did not make sense, leaving them standing on the hard pavement wondering nothing but this: why and how. _Why and how?_

All five wondering what kind of madness this was, how they could have prevented it (if they possibly could), and one seen and another unseen, wondering why they had to live to see pain in their friend's eyes.

They had put their trust in the wrong person. In the wrong person, indeed.

It was night, a darker night than usual in the eyes of those five. The constant image of their friend disappearing in a flash without their eyes seeing (but knowing) and her captor along with herself, leaving no trace if they even existed in this harsh cruel world. Of course they knew she was there. She _was_ there. She was here standing beside them..…but she was not. Not anymore.

Only one day had begun of this so-called 'long' journey of theirs; only one day, and it had been the beginning of unfortunate events. And only in less than ten seconds the journey seemed to be nothing but what they wish not to know, even though they would know soon enough. Sooner than they thought.

Ramka did this, they were sure. One knowing of course, but knowing was enough. The other four thinking it, yelling it in their own selfless and unknowing minds with other selfish eyes listening to what they shouted with delight. Ramka was part of this, the master mime in taking their friend. That they knew, and that was enough.

While the sun was setting, the Titans quarreling with Beast boy about his lack of silence, and while Robin listened to the voices that sung, a man about the age of twenty stood in front of a broken mirror, combing his slick red hair back. He had an assignment. His boss had not given him one for months counting, -about 73 days to be exact since this man was tallying the days off- for some reason since his last one. That last one had gotten a bit messy, and the man would have been in serious trouble, if it were not for his boss's place in society. He ended up killing the assigned person.

The man's job was to capture humans (and sometimes other creatures), his boss had said this when he first started his job, and with a bit of disgust when he had spat out the word 'humans'. He had said the word as though it were poison. Obviously, his employer was far from the definition 'human' himself, since he seemed to despise the human race. The man and his boss had special abilities that they found plain normal, but knew were strange to others. These abilities made them both far from human, but they, of course did not look like it.

The man looked pretty much human, but who would not, after living on this cursed planet the humans call Earth for twenty years? Twenty long years breathing the polluted air and most of all, and being distracted by human interests without knowing what truly was out there.

Now, _that_ was a curse.

His boss had shown him the stupid ways of the human race, and opened his mind into a whole other reality. The true and exact reality that all should know, if they were worthy. It was his boss who showed him the real ways of the cursed world. The boss he would forever serve.

Thinking back to his conversation with his employer an hour earlier, he remembered the specific details that were needed. There were _always _these directions that needed to be followed, how to make his entry, how to do this, and that, blah blah blah. More of these 'directions' had been put into place this time. The man guessed this assignment was vital to his boss, and he would not fail. If he were to possibly stumble upon failure, he would pay with his life. Dying by a far from human's hand would be extremely unpleasant. He did not want to get into the bloody details just then.

As he stared at his reflection in the cracked mirror, he almost started to laugh. What he found funny was the traits he had of a human: small nose, blue eyes, full lips, rosy cheeks, and freckles. He knew it would not last, though he had told his boss he especially loved the red hair. The man closed his eyes, smirked, and disappeared into thin air. The job would not take him long. It was a piece of cake, compared to his last job that had almost cost him too much, and his boss as well.

No one could screw up at this part of the game.

Fwoosh. He was in a kind of old building built about ten years ago, yet it still was out of style in the growing community of Earth. Only a waitress was there, located behind a lengthy counter with her back turned away from the man, reading a newspaper. He sat on one of the stools next to the counter. His smirk never left his face.

_All of this is too easy_, he thought. _To damn easy._

The woman's coffee was sitting right next him, still steaming hot from the microwave hidden beneath the counter. He could easily poison her, but of course, that would not work. Instead, he slipped something in it that would look like backwash (or in other words, something _interesting_) but _was_ half poison, half something else. Either way, it still was not fully poison; it would still give into its full affect.

The fat woman never would know what hit her.

The waitress saw him sitting there, a bit surprised by his sudden appearance. She quickly threw that thought away, along with the newspaper, which he saw dated two weeks ago, and gave him a menu. The menu, he noted, was the same icky color yellow as the chairs in this place, and the chairs, he noticed, were metal. When was their a magnet when you needed one?

"Tell me when your ready to order," the waitress said happily with a peppy smile.

"Yeah, yeah," he said, hating her happiness. As he quickly scanned the menu, he could not believe what he saw. He looked up quickly and with no surprise, he saw that there was no kitchen. That explained everything. Especially the metal stool he sat on.

"What do you use to cook all this stuff?" the man asked, already knowing the answer.

"Microwave," the waitress said, picking up her coffee. "Did you…do something to my coffee, sir?"

"No," the man said. "I wouldn't even think of it."

The waitress nodded slightly. Just then the man remembered what the coffee did to a human if they just even peered at the half poison, half something else for a second. It changed their personality in a flash, and that was the best part of it. He loved some of the special gadgets (or spells/tricks) he was aloud to use that his boss gave him for his assignments. If only he could use them all the time…this specific one also drew up suspicion, but he had no worries about that.

All was planned out too well. He still hated to think what was on the menu, though. This specific location could have been thought up by his boss, as a little punishment, which it probably was. He picked up his menu again, and asked the waitress what was their best, but he did not really like the answer she gave.

It did not matter to him.

But now, all he had to do was wait. Waiting was good. And of course, he that is what he did.

"Oh and by the way, Welcome to 'Eat at Joe's'," the waitress said with fake happiness. If she had not been under the half poison half something else's magic trick, she would never have mentioned the name of the restaurant.

"Yes, finally!" Beast boy said as he entered into the restaurant. A faint smell entered his nose, making him want to eat the whole restaurant, if it were eatable. He would have quickly change his mind if he knew what he actually was smelling.

"Welcome to Eat at Joe's," a fat waitress said in a bored voice behind a lengthy counter. "Sit anywhere you like, and I will be with you shortly."

"As _she_ says," Beast boy muttered, sliding into one of the yellow metal chairs closest to the window. It was nighttime, and barely any stars showed their faces. The night held something nobody would expect, only the man who sat with a smirk on his face, watching the Titans and Anielle slip into their seats. He wondered if they would notice the chairs were metal.

"Wonder what they got," Cyborg said. "It better be good, because I'm _starving_."

"Aren't we all," Raven said.

"Can't she give us our menus already?" Beast boy said impatiently, looking over at the waitress.

"It looks like she is busy," Starfire pointed out .The waitress was wiping the counter while staring into her coffee with a disturbing grin on her face.

"Yeah, right," Beast boy said. "Busy my ass. Isn't her main priority to serve customers or something?"

Outside a slight wind went threw the branches of the scattered trees placed around few buildings that were located at the rest stop. A stir in the night was the only movement, yet unseen. It's target located, waiting for the signal.

Anielle swiftly looked out the window, as if sensing something. She did, and she did not like it. A power surged out there, sending a shiver up and down her spine. _What madness is this?_ She thought. _What madness?_

Something distracted her from what she was thinking. Robin. It was Robin. And he was _smiling_ at her. No one ever smiled at her that way. No, no one had, except the friendly smile of Starfire's, but Anielle was sure she smiled like that to anyone and everyone all the time. Robin was smiling at her as if they had been good _buddies_ or something.

Anielle was caught off guard. Why was he doing this? What had she done right? Nothing, of course. Robin did not know a thing. She almost wanted to say out loud, _dumb human_, but she was not like the others who despised them. She used to be one of them. The only thing that Anielle had done was speak into his mind, and help him out of the dark pit of crazy voices, and of the menacing plague. All she did was drive out that voice. It was a warning, and it was not in her choosing to do what she had to. It was her brother's doing, but through her. That warning, if Robin really had listened, would dig them out of what was soon to come, and she had not let him listen. That was what she had done. Ended all of their chances from preventing something bad from happening.

And what Anielle got out of it was a smile. She wished he would stop. She did not disserve this. He would regret it soon. All too soon.

Anielle shifted uncomfortably in the chair, suddenly realizing that they were made out of metal.

The man watching the six silently laughed at what he read straight out of Anielle's mind. He didn't laugh out loud, though, he laughed with delight inside his own. It was fun to listen to her pain, though he was glad atleast _someone_ knew about the chairs.

"Uhh…Robin? What hit the happy face?" Cyborg asked Robin.

Robin's smile faded. "Nothing. Nothing," he said. "It's nothing."

"Maybe he's just glad Beast boy has his mouth shut," Raven said, "for a minute running."

"Hey!" Beast boy exclaimed. "I ask again. What is _wrong_ with me talking?"

"Beast boy," Cyborg said patiently, "just let it go."

"Do not let it run you down, friend Beast boy," Starfire said, smiling at him. Anielle was now certain she smiled like that to everyone, even a stranger, probably.

The waitress finally came over after spending a few minutes studying her coffee as if something interesting was in it (which there was, of course). She was a chubby woman in her mid thirties, her hair obviously dyed blonde, and her face was standing out too much for comfort. She wore a lot makeup, perhaps thinking that it made her look pretty. Wrong. Beyond wrong. It made her look _hideous_.

"What's wrong with you, green boy?" she asked gruffly, catching Beast boy staring at her face.

"Uh…" Beast boy did not know what to say. She was ugly. No, not just ugly, just plainly and extraordinarily _hideous._ No matter how much he wanted to say it, he still could not force his mouth to speak. He was dying to speak his mind.

"I… think he's starved," Cyborg said, coming to his rescue. " He probably can't think clearly." Then he added quickly, "From lack of food, that is."

"And lack of brain," Raven said.

"I see," the waitress said, buying Cyborg and Raven's answer. "Alright then. Just call me when you are ready to order." She walked away slowly, back to her coffee that interested her so much.

Beast boy quickly scanned the menu, disgusted with everything there was. "Dude, there's _nothing_ good on here! This is just bogus!"

"It is food, am I correct?" Starfire asked, scanning the menu as well.

"Don't know Starfire. It all seems kind of…strange," Robin said.

"Yeah. Corn on a stick?" Cyborg said in surprise. "How can you get corn on a stick?"

"I would like to see you try," Beast boy said.

"Yeah?" Cyborg said. "I would like to see the waitress try. Isn't it supposed to be corn dog on a stick?"

"Whoa…Artichoke Delight. Artichoke covered with cheese and topped with onion?" Beast boy said in disbelief. " Sick. That's just plain sick! Who would even _eat_ an artichoke?"

"It is creative?" Star said, a bit entranced by the mixture of Earth food.

"Yeah…yeah, Star. It's pretty creative," Cyborg said stifling a laugh.

"Is there anything _normal_ on this menu? Like a burger and fries?" Beast boy said.

"They got a burger on a stick," Raven said, holding the menu with her pointer finger and her middle finger as if it were just a piece of trash. " With roasted banana and…" She shook her head, completely grossed out. " I'm not eating off of this menu…"

"Neither am I," concluded Starfire.

"They should call this restaurant 'Stick Food'," Cyborg mumbled. "Half of the food has the word 'stick' in it."

"Please say there is something good on here!" Beast boy exclaimed.

That was his que. The man sitting and watching them got up and began walking towards the table where the Titans sat, along with their quiet companion, Anielle. She did not even dare pick up the menu. He silently stood behind Beast boy, almost trying hard not to laugh triumphantly. All was planned out too well.

"There's steak stick and fish," the man said, startling Beast boy. The man had a small bit of humor in his voice when he spoke." It's…not normal but it is the best they have, in my opinion, and in the waitress's. I asked her."

"Another stick," Cyborg said.

"Who are you?" Robin asked. One of his favorite questions, one he would use many times in the most convenient ways.

"Sorry, I just overheard you talking," the man said apolitically. "You are…quite loud. I'm sure even the waitress could hear." All turned towards the waitress, who still was studying her coffee with deep interest. "By the way, my name's…Andrew."

"Nice to meet you Andrew," Robin said. "You sure…the steak stick and fish is good? "

"Yeah," Andrew said. "As I said before, it's the best they got."

"Sounds good," Beast boy said. "What made you the expert of this restaurant?"

"Been here plenty of times," Andrew lied. "You kind of get the hang of these things."

Anielle seemed to be the only one to know that he was not who he seemed to be. His name was not Andrew. No, it never was, and never will be. He was one of Ramka's handy dandy men who did his dirty work for him. She wanted to tell Robin and talk to him inside his mind to warn him, but she knew Andrew would interfere. There was no warning him in any way. Anielle wondered what he was up to… and what was going to happen.

"Why don't you sit with us?" Cyborg said. "Looks like you're alone."

"Sure," Andrew said with a shrug. He gave a short glance in Anielle's direction and his smirk appeared once again. He knew she could do nothing. Nothing at all. All was too well planned.

_Why hello there,_ Andrew said into Anielle's mind with a tiny bit of friendliness in it, but mostly mockery.

As he pulled up a chair(which made a whole lot of racket since it was made out of metal) beside Cyborg, the waitress came over, reluctantly leaving her coffee on the counter. She eyed Andrew, and pulled out her notepad.

"Well, looks like all you young folk are settled in," she said. "Are you ready to order? Or are you still complaining about our menu choices?"

"Yup, she heard ya," Andrew said to Beast boy, smiling.

"I think we're ready," Robin said.

"Good. What do you want?"

"You got coffee?" Cyborg asked.

The grey lump was on the move. It was not just a grey lump though, it was a man. To Beast boy's fear, he was stalking them. Just as the T-car passed the lump, he knew that it was time to move. Fast.

He was not in favor of sleeping on the side of the road, but it worked for him. It was his lookout post, and now it lay far behind. He had to walk all the way to his next destination(he had to walk all the way around the big hill), no matter how his feet ached, no matter how much he complained, he just had to get there, and fast.

Or the plan would fail.

It was not even a plan, exactly. The lump thought this funny. How was it not a plan when they were actually _planning_ something that would succeed? Or hopefully would succeed? _Would _succeed? The only reply that stuck in his mind like glue was this: Do your job or die.

"Do your job or die," the lump said out loud, and smirked, showing the air his beyond yellow teeth with green stuff that looked like mold growing on his gums. If the air was a living thing, it would have cringed and run away as fast as it could, but of course, it could not. It could not. It was utterly impossible, unless Ramka had something to do with it. " Yeah, I'd love to die, but not by him. Hell, not by the hand of a non-human."

On he went, endlessly to do his job. First of all, he had to recruit some members of his…so-called 'family'. They were not related to him in any way, but they were in the same conditions he was under: Do your job or die.

His 'family' awaited his arrival. At the next rest stop( around the big hill), where he was sure the Titans and Anielle would not stay, for it was empty, and had been for quite some time. There lay in one of the old buildings a portal that would take him and his recruited brothers to their final destination. He grew to love these portals Ramka made for them. It saved him a lot of walking, in every job he had to attend to, but not enough. He still had to walk, no matter how far, no how his feet ached, no matter how much he complained or swore at his boss for this, he just had to get there, and fast. He really hated big green hills.

"This looks…strange," Starfire said when her food, the steak stick and fish, was placed out in front of her. The steak actually looked like a stick, brown and burnt for the matter, and the fish did not look like fish at all. Just some purple lump that smelled disgusting. "Are you sure it is Earth food, not food from my plan-''she stopped and a gave a quick smile towards Andrew, "from where I am from?"

"Would the food from…where you are from smell this bad?" Cyborg asked.

"It matters," Starfire said. "But I do not think it would."

Apparently everyone took Andrew's advice, as he did take his own. To their utter disgust, their meal was frozen, and even though the waitress tried to be as quiet as any fat chubby woman could, she microwaved it. The microwave was very _loud_, and it would have given anyone a headache, if they really paid much attention to it. The old hunk of junk (as they presumed it was) appeared to be the only noise that they could hear, besides the shallow wind that howled outside.

"At least it isn't that bad looking," Andrew pointed out.

"Looks bad enough," Beast boy said. "I don't think…I can eat this."

"You were smart not to order anything, Raven," Robin said.

"I don't eat from restaurants like this," Raven said. "Especially with such unpleasant company."

"Don't be so harsh," Cyborg said. "Andrew's just a friendly guy."

"Indeed I am," Andrew said with a bit of laughter in his voice. "Though I doubt she meant me, by any means."

"I was talking about the waitress," Raven said.

"Oh," Cyborg said. "You have a point."

"I wonder if she is the only one who works in this restaurant. If you could even care to call it a restaurant," Beast boy said, who began to pick at his food with a plastic fork and knife the waitress gave them. As he poked harder at it, the fork broke into two pieces. Beast boy shook his head slowly. "This is wrong. Especially when they have chairs that match the menus…"

"They don't even have a _kitchen_!" muttered Cyborg under his breath. "What restaurant doesn't have a kitchen?"

"Apparently this one," Robin said.

"Is a microwave all that bad?" Andrew asked, starting to eat. Everyone looked at him with disgust. "What?"

"You're actually eating it?" Beast boy aked. "Your fork didn't break! How's that possible?"

"Your point is?"

"Are you dying of starvation or something? And how can your fork not break? Mine just broke from slightly touching this…thing…"

Andrew laughed at what he said. Of course he was dying, weren't they all as the seconds of the day passed? They were all growing older, indeed, and would die one day soon of course. Except Anielle, that is. And except he himself, along with the help of his boss. But that was for his boss's choosing.

The fork he did not have a clue about. Maybe he got a good plastic fork. That did not make perfect sense to him. All plastic was crap. Metal on the other hand…

"So, who are you lovely folk?" Andrew asked, even though he already knew the answers. He loved making conversation to the ones who would wish they hadn't known him, though he hated talking and wished speaking never existed. "And why are you hanging around here, of all places?"

"Oh, sorry," Robin said, glad to talk about something else other than what they soon would be eating, if they even wanted to. He was sure that the others were as well. "Sorry we didn't introduce ourselves earlier."

"No prob," Andrew said, taking another bite of the steak stick.

"I'm Robin. That's Cyborg, Beast boy, Starfire, Raven, and over there is Anielle." Robin pointed to each of them as he said their names, and Andrew's eye fell upon each one of them. His gaze stayed longer on Anielle. Andrew knew exactly what was in store for her.

_Welcome to the land of Deception_, Andrew said into her mind, making her wince. _Glad you could make it right now time._

_Why are you here? _Anielle asked.

_Why are _you_ here?_

_It wasn't really my choice, now was it?I'm sure you know it better than me._

_Course. I'm sure dear old Ramka wouldn't leave me clueless. Had a nice little Mind Fiesta earlier?_

Anielle ignored his question. _What are you planning? What is he planning?_

_Why would I dare to tell you?_ Andrew took another bite of his steak stick and fish. The food made a gross cracking noise when he bit into it, making him grimace inside. It was utterly disgusting, but he dare not blow his cover. Plus, he would take his punishment dignity, if you could call eating crap dignity. _I'm sure you're looking forward to it, now aren't ya?_

_No. Never. _Anielle realized she was staring at Andrew, and tore her gaze from him. Her eyes fell upon the food that sizzled with a sick smell in front of her. How could he _eat_ the stuff? Another question popped up into her head. How could he captor and feed them to the biting teeth of Ramka? Surely he had been through a lot more other than just eating crap like this.

_Tell me one thing, Anielle. How does it feel to know that you will never die? That you should never be trusted in this world?_

_Shut up. _She said it softly, but tried to put enough forced anger into the words. _I'm sure you know._

_Please, I would love to know what you have to say._

_Why?_

_I'm sure I have a right to know. Now, please, the answer._

_What made you so proper?_

_What made you so snotty?_

_Shut up. Leave them alone. _Her words sounded desperate, she knew, but she did not care.

_What about you? Should I leave you alone too? Huh? Or has your brother done enough? I'm sure you're a weakling by now. _

_Shut up._

"Here's your coffee," the waitress said, giving Cyborg a cup. She added with fake enthusiasm, "and enjoy."

"Thanks," Cyborg said. "Hey, wait. Don't you have any cream or sugar to put in it?"

"Does it look like it?" the waitress nastily, returning to her own cup.

"Guess not," Cyborg said, looking into his coffee. It looked just as bad as the food that still awaited him to eat, but he drank it anyway. Cyborg doubted that he would get any sleep tonight, without the help of the coffee.

"Is anyone going to eat?" Andrew asked politely, ignoring the glare that Anielle was giving him.

"I don't think so," Robin said.

"I do not think I could eat any of this fish and steak of a stick," Starfire said. "May we go to the next rest stop and try again?"

"Don't leave yet," Andrew said sadly, his eyes pleading. He was enjoying the looks Anielle was giving him. He wondered how a quiet girl like her could come across such anger. All the same, it was entertaining.

"I guess we could stay a bit," Robin said. "While Cyborg finishes his coffee. But we really should be going."

"Where are you guys off to?" Andrew asked.

Robin looked quickly at the others. Raven sat quietly and stared at him, and the others stared at their food as though they could not believe what they were seeing…or smelling. He could have sworn that Anielle was staring at Andrew or something, but he was a second behind form catching the scheme.

"Trip away from the city," Robin replied. "Got enough of the action as it is."

"I see," Andrew said lightly.

_What are you planning?_ Anielle said into his mind, trying to sound fierce, but without any success.

You shall see soon enough. "Super heroes, by any chance?" Andrew asked simply. And don't even try to warn Robin. Your brother won't allow it.

Just then Anielle had a pounding headache, forcing her to shut her eyes in order to keep the tears from flooding out.

"Yeah," Robin said. He looked at Anielle's screwed up face in concern. "You all right Anielle?'

"I'm fine," Anielle said quietly.

"Maybe she's just grossed out like the rest of us," Cyborg suggested.

"It would make sense," Andrew said, finishing what was left of the food in front of him. He made a little note to himself to never eat at the place again. 'Eat At Joe's' really needed a kitchen, and skinny waitresses, for a better environment, and company.

"Dude, how did you eat it?" Cyborg asked, astonished.

"Sorry to say, but you kind of get used to it," Andrew said, placing his hands behind his head, his elbows sticking out in the air. He was in deep need of a toothpick, to make this position actually worthwhile. Andrew was certain that the place would not contain even a scrap of wood.

"I bet," Beast boy said. "Can we please get out of this place? I'm starting to feel like the food. Gross and disgusting. And not just that, I feel like I'm going to smell-''

"All right," Cyborg said. "The coffee wasn't that good anyways…"

While Robin left $10 on the table, quite less than what the waitress would have charge, everyone quickly got up, and walked out the door, followed by Andrew. "I'm sad to see you guys go," he said. "Not many people come around here at this time of night. Not even often during the day."

The place was completely deserted except the T-car. A thought ran through the seven, wondering if the fat waitress lived there.

"It was nice meeting you, Andrew," Robin said.

"Yeah…it was nice meeting you too," Andrew said, looking suspiciously at the waitress still standing and studying her coffee inside. What was taking her so long? Why was she just _standing _there? Then Andrew realized that the waitress never sipped out of the cup ever since he put the stuff that was half poison in there. It was the human's nature of suspicion, he guessed, and part of the half poison half something else's doing. Damn humans. He deeply wanted to throw one of those metal chairs at the fat woman.

_What's wrong? _Anielle's voice said mockingly, echoing all around Andrew. _The waitress part of your plan, not working?_

Just as Robin was turning around towards the T-car along with the others, Andrew said, "Hey, wait up a minute." Robin turned and looked at Andrew, who had a grin appear across his face. "Your names, I just realized. They aren't ordinary. Are they nicknames or something?"

"I guess you could say that," Robin said, smiling a little. "You know, being heroes and all. Nice to have a disguise of some kind."

"Yeah," Andrew said, sweating a little. He was trying to buy time. He _needed_ more time. They needed more time. Anielle could tell this in the little edge in his voice about what he was trying to do. "They are quite interesting. By the way, nice mask." He would have said to Cyborg 'cool gear' because of his half robotic body, but he found that a little too desperate.

"Thanks," Robin said, his smile widening into a grin.

"You know, it's really quiet around here," Andrew said, wishing he had taken a lesson from his boss about conversation, though any lesson with him would be very distasteful. Even _talking_ to him wasn't pleasant. He still regretted it, all the same.

"It's kind of creepy," Beast boy said, staring into the shadows across the way. "And that's why we're leaving."

"I'm sorry to bother you with this but…"Andrew thought about what he just was going to say. It would have sounded desperate, he knew, but he had to give it a shot. It was either he pointing at the waitress and she suddenly falling to the ground in an extraordinarily stupid faint, or he asking them to stay with him for a few minutes, just to keep him company. Either way was fishy. They would for sure sense something going on, and that was not good.

He just realized they were all staring at him.

"Your not afraid of the dark, are you?" Cyborg asked, amused.

"Oh, oh no, no, I'm not," Andrew said, laughing. "No, I just was a bit…"A thought sprung out to him, but not in a very nice manner .It was forced into his mind. In anger, possibly. "Lost. I was just a bit lost."

Anielle gave him a curious look. She knew he was he was digging up.

"Do you possibly know where the closest big city is? I'm not real interested in staying in this place much." Andrew shrugged. "You know, the food…"

"Closest big city, huh?" Robin said, deep in thought. "Not sure. We're a bit lost too, to tell you the truth."

"Shall we help him?" Starfire suggested. "I could fly-''

"You sure that's a good idea?" Cyborg asked.

"You can fly?" Andrew asked stupidly. He loved acting stupid. It was a skill anybody had, but everybody didn't have the skill of conversation. He silently cursed himself because of it.

"I'm sorry Andrew, but we kind of got to get going ourselves," Robin said as though it was an apology.

"I understand," Andrew said, lowering his head. "I guess I'll have to stick around here for a while. Eating that crap and…you know…" _They don't even have a bathroom, _he thought. He could have said it out loud if he really wanted to.

"Please friends, we should help him," Starfire said. " He is just a poor man who needs our help. Should we not help him?"

Andrew tried to hide a smile. He hoped somebody would pity him. It was just the person he wanted, too. The confused alien.

"Well, if you guys are late for something, I guess I'll have to walk to the next rest stop," Andrew said slowly. "It's not a big deal or anything, I mean."

"I…don't really know…" Robin said with uncertainty showing in his eyes. He looked over at Starfire's sparkling eyes with that pleading look in them. There was no way he could not give into them.

"You mean you would walk on the side of the main road?" Beast boy asked.

Andrew nodded solemnly. He was extremely enjoying this. Today was a good day. Tonight was a wonderful night. If it only wasn't for the damn wind…

"Jeezes, you can't do that," Beast boy said, remembering the lump sleeping on the side of the road. "There are things sleeping on the side of the road. They could _stalk _you."

"Oh really?" Andrew asked, looking up and raising an eyebrow. His face was blank, but Anielle was sure he was hiding heaps of emotion. She could tell by the slight thoughts she was picking up in his mind. He was pleased with himself. He probably would even hug himself or pat himself on the back if he really wanted to.

"Yeah," Beast boy said. "There was this one dude we drove pass earlier today. I'm not sure, but he seemed kind of dangerous. Hey guys, I really think we should give him a lift."

"Indeed we should," Starfire added victoriously.

"I guess it wouldn't hurt," Robin said. "Cyborg, you got an extra seat?"

"Are you serious?" Cyborg said, surprised. "The T-car's got everything, man."

"Everything, as in a toilet?" Andrew asked curiously. This was the time to say it. "There is no toilet here…"

Cyborg eyed him, saying, "Well we had a toilet, but it doesn't work anymore, thanks to Beast boy. How can they not have a toilet here?"

"Hey! That was an _accident_. It's not like I had revenge against the thing," Beast boy protested. "It was still kind of wrong to even put a toilet in the car. And besides, if this place has no kitchen, its sure not going to have a toilet."

"We weren't planning to stop, " Cyborg pointed out. "But since you broke the toilet, and ate all our food, we kind of had to. Oh, yeah, we would have stopped to sleep…"

"It is a good thing too that we stopped, or else friend Andrew would have stayed here eating the food that was not what I would call Earthly food," Starfire said. Andrew seemed flattered.

"I…I don't know what to say," Andrew said, "but perhaps she is right."

"She's right," Cyborg said. " You can thank us, even though we aren't doing much for you."

Andrew was just about to thank them, but he knew he would not have the time. He already bought enough to get the plan rumbling away. To get the main attraction on their way, to be exact.

"There's something over there," Raven said quickly, pointing to the shadows of the building across from where they stood. She had been looking around while the others were talking.

"Where?" Beast boy asked looking around. "I don't see a thing."

"There's something there," Raven insisted. "It's been watching us. We should go. Now."

"Are you sure?" Andrew said, a little too loud for anyone's liking, with a bit of amusement hidden in his words that only Anielle caught. He seemed to want to be heard by whatever hid in the shadow. Probably what the shadows had been waiting for, a signal. "Nobody comes around this time of day!"

Just then a figure came out of the shadows. A single man. They couldn't quite make him out since his facial features and clothing still hung in shadow. If there was better light, they could have recognized him as the lump, the one Beast boy was afraid would stalk them, and of course, he did.

He disappeared for a split second, swiftly coming towards the seven who stood outside "Eat At Joe's". They did not know, but he carried a weapon with him, a sharp weapon that could easily break the flesh of any normal human being. He headed for the green boy, who stood there with a dumb look on his face.

"Watch out!" Anielle yelled, noticing whom the figure was heading towards. Starfire saw this as well, and quickly pushed Beast boy out of the way, getting the attack herself. The sharp weapon barely missed her heart as she tried to push herself away. Instead, it scraped her stomach, leaving a shallow wound and revealing a thin line of blood. If she had not backed up a bit, it would have been deadly.

Surprised by the alien girl's quickness, he quickly went hid back in the shadows.

"Dude! What was that!" Beast boy exclaimed, staring at Starfire.

"I do not know," Starfire replied seriously.

"You're bleeding," Robin said, concerned.

"It is not that bad," Starfire said, looking down at her wound. "It could have been worse."

"He's fast," Raven said. "Keep on your guard."

"Hey you! Come out from hiding," Cyborg yelled. "Face us like a real man." Then added quietly, "or if you're a woman, fight like a real…woman."

"Starfire, you alright?" Beast boy asked.

"I am alright," Starfire said. "I am glad that you are not harmed."

"Thanks, Star," Beast boy sheepishly, "I should have seen it coming. I guess my reflexes are kind of on sleep mode."

_What are you planning?_ Anielle whispered in Andrew's mind once again, giving a quick look back at his grinning face.

_None of your business, _he replied.

_I wish to know,_ Anielle said. _I wish to stop you._

You're brother won't allow that. Only you know that too well. How's your headache, by the way?

_He's not my brother._

_But he is._

_My brother is dead. _Anielle took a step back and placed herself right next to Andrew. _I wish to know what you're planning._

_Tell me, why don't you ever answer my questions?_

"Stay back, Andrew and Anielle," Robin said, looking back at the two. "This guy might be seriously dangerous. I don't want you guys to get hurt."

"He's one guy, Robin," Cyborg said as the figure stepped out of shadow again. "We can take him. Easily."

"He is fast," Starfire noted.

"He is, but has that ever stopped us before?" Robin said.

"There's something about him I don't like," Cyborg said. "Something peculiar…"

The figure slowly began walking forward, and his facial features came clearly with his clothing, showing a grey cloak that covered his whole body except for his bear feet. Beast boy's eyes stared at him in disbelief.

"It's that lump we saw!" he said. "He stalked us! He followed us!"

"It would have been better if he was a rock," Cyborg said. "Then he wouldn't have to be beaten by us."

"What do you want?" Robin yelled at the lump.

As if in answer, about dozen more figures that looked exactly like the lump stepped out of shadow. They each had a grey cloak like the lump's, except they were shorter, revealing hairy legs along with bare feet, and a wicked grin spread out on their dirty faces. To the Titans, they looked like homeless men, hobos in Beast boy's mind, except the homeless men carried something that none of them would expect. They carried sharp objects similar to the one the lump had, that looked like a pitchfork with three spikes, with a thick dagger look at the end with longer quality, and a handle of steel.

Beside the tangle hair that shaded their eyes- if there was more light, they would have noticed they were dark crimson, the color of blood- and a dirty appearance, they seemed to be a threat. If they could see their eyes, they would have appeared to be even more of a threat.

"Looks like he has friends," Cyborg said.

"I told you he would follow us," Beast boy said quietly. " I knew it."

"We should listen to Beast boy more often," Raven said sarcastically.

"You should," Beast boy said seriously. "And I say we get out of here. Or something bad will happen."

"Something is," whispered Anielle, too quiet for anyone else to hear. Andrew only heard her words, and he only knew they were truer than Anielle could ever believe.

The hobos walked slowly towards them until they were only to ten feet apart from the seven. Robin quickly got out a few freeze disks while the others got into battle position, ready to fight.

"However dangerous they are, I guess we are about to find out," Robin said, "or whatever they want, they won't get. I'll make sure of that." He looked back quickly at the pale face of Anielle and said reassuringly, "Nothing will happen, I promise. You won't come to any harm."

_He wishes,_ Andrew said lightly to Anielle. _He wishes, but of course he knows deep down inside that he has nothing to do with it. Yet, anyway. And besides the fact, he can't do a single thing._

_I will stop you, _Anielle said defiantly in answer. _I will stop you. I will._

_Don't we all wish for something like that? Like _hope?_ There is no hope. _

_There is._

"I do not like this, Robin," Starfire said.

"Neither do I," Robin said, looking over to her, who just stood there staring blankly. "Star, you all right? You look a little worn out."

"I do feel tired," Starfire said, and then smiled weakly. "But I am not too tired to kick the butt."

The lump that stood before the other figures took another step forward, drawing Robin's attention away from Star. There was a gleam in his eye that Robin did not like. It was a gleam that he saw in enemies that would give him nightmares, except it was different. He thought he saw red.

"Robin," the lump said. His voice was deep and deadly, as if he had seen too many deaths (which…he has) and waited for the next one.

Robin stood up straight, put away the few disks, and looked at the lump in surprise. "How did you know my name?" he said in disbelief, expecting that he probably would have an unpleasant conversation with him.

And there it was. The ten seconds they would never forget. The ten seconds that seemed less, but indeed, it was ten.

Andrew swiftly pushed Anielle back behind him into the building's glass doors, surprising the fat waitress inside (though it did not draw her too much attention from her coffee, which she still did not drink; suspicion would kill her one day). He quickly stepped behind Starfire, whose attention was not on him but straight ahead at the menacing lump. Andrew grabbed her shoulder tightly in his iron grip, making her numb all over. If Starfire were a regular human, he would have broken her shoulder through and through, bone and all. Andrew wrapped his other arm around her waist tightly, stopping her from struggling away from him, though he doubted she could.

"Robin!" she shouted in fright.

The Titans were too late to see what happened, since all their attention was on the enemy. The wrong enemy, that is.

As quickly as it began, it ended.

They disappeared. Right then and there, they disappeared. Andrew and Starfire were gone from their line of vision.

"Starfire!" shouted Robin, and turned just in time to see the figures in grey disappear as well. "Starfire! Where are you!"

Anielle saw it all, from where she now sat back against the door in pain from the force Andrew put in to pushing away. She was lucky she did not shatter the glass. She would have been in deep trouble if that had happened. Anielle thought for a second, that if Andrew had not pushed her away, she would have had some chance in saving their target. The one the wanted. Starfire. Anielle could have, but she didn't. She couldn't.

It was a darker night to those five. It all happened too fast. Starfire wasn't there, along with her capture. Gone forever, or so they thought.

The four Titans stood there, looking at where their friend had been. They just couldn't believe it. How could they just take her? How could someone they trust just take her away? Why and how?

Why and how? 

What they did not know was that Andrew and Starfire never left the spot where they last were seen. They were still there, under an invisibility spell, and a silent spell, for Starfire was making a whole lot of noise to Andrew's discomfort.

Starfire tried to push away from Andrew, but he was too strong. Stronger than what he appeared to be: a poor human being whom she took pity over. She felt numb all over, which helped on her capture's part. The hand that still had a tight grip on her shoulder was still in place. Starfire could feel his nails dig deep into her skin, making her wince in pain.

"They can't hear you," Andrew whispered in her ear menacingly. "No matter how you try, they can't hear you, or see you for the matter. See them staring dumbly around? Stupid idiots. There too blind to see what is really there." He fought of the urge to throw her against something hard to shut her up, but he knew he did not want to pay the price because of that. One already would for drawing the blood of the target. Andrew noticed his nails digging into Starfire's skin, and drew his hand away. Even that little mark would have a price to pay.

"Robin!" yelled Starfire. "Cyborg! Raven! Friend Beast boy!"

Raven seemed to hear something, but she did not know what. The spell was too strong for her to break. She did not even notice that there was a spell in place, or a barrier.

"Where did she go?" Beast boy asked. After they stood frozen in place from interminable minutes that seemed to last longer than what it appeared to be.

"I don't know," Robin said, his fists clenched. "Andrew took her…somewhere. Andrew took her! I can't believe it…I can't believe I couldn't see it coming…"

'I didn't take her anywhere, actually, Robin," Andrew answered smartly. "Just beyond where you could even see her. Stupid blind human."

"Robin!" Starfire yelled again. "Robin!"

Robin, finally unglued from his where he stood, walked towards where Anielle sat hunched over as he just realized what Andrew had done to her. Tears tried to exit from where Anielle kept them, but she would not let them go. Robin still kept his eyes open for something, _anything,_ any trace of where his friend went, but he knew that he wouldn't see anything, even if he wanted to.

"Anielle," he said quietly. "Anielle, are you all right?"

"Fine," she lied. "Just fine…Robin." She stopped, feeling weirdness for speaking his name. He gave her a hand to help her up. She felt her knees were weak, and she still had that growing headache, and now her back hurt. A lot. But that didn't matter to her. Andrew, if that was his name, took their friend. He literally took her away; for good it seemed, or what the other four Titans thought in their minds.

"I'm sorry," Anielle said. "I'm so sorry…I tried to stop him…I knew…he would do it. Really, I tried."

"There was nothing you could do," Robin said, deeply torn inside. He could not believe what just happened….but it did." There was nothing I could do, either. She's gone. I could not have done anything. Even if…I knew Andrew was going to take her. Why would he take her? Why? Why her of all people? I…I was just focused on the wrong enemy."

"I'm sorry," Anielle repeated. They didn't know how sorry she was. They never would.

"This was Ramka's doing," Cyborg said in anger. "I'm sure of it. Ramka had something to do with it."

"Then what were those homeless people doing here?" Beast boy asked curiously.

"I don't know," Robin said slowly. "They did serve a purpose, though. I don't see how I could be so stupid! To even trust him!"

"Don't blame yourself," Raven said. "Stop blaming yourself, Robin. You weren't the cause of this."

"I feel that it was my fault," Robin said. "It was my fault! I…"

_Blame me,_ Anielle thought. _Don't blame yourself, blame me. It's my entire fault._

"I know what purpose those men served," Anielle said, biting back the pain that grew deeper within her even before she spoke the words. She had to tell them, no matter what her brother thought of it.

"Don't you dare say it," Andrew said. "Oh don't you dare."

The others looked at her with deep sadness and curiosity.

"Why?" Beast boy asked, speaking all of the Titans questions.

"They were a distraction," Anielle said. "Distracting us from the real threat."

"How right you are," Andrew said laughing in delight as a saw sparks of pain appear behind Anielle's eyes. "Your dear ole' brother will have a blast. Have a wonderful night, Anielle."

Andrew watched as she squinted in pain, biting her lip to keep in the scream that almost escaped her lips.

Starfire gave up on her fruitless unheard screaming, knowing it would not do a thing. All of a sudden , she felt too weak to struggle or stand. She let her legs slip out from under her, waiting for the feeling of cold concrete. Instead, she felt a burst of wind while Andrew moved her and himself into the shadows where the lump and the rest of his 'family' disappeared. Andrew had put the disappearing spell on the men as well( and the silent spell, just incase they decided to speak to one another).

He still was watching with delight at the pain that surged through all of their minds. It was like watching a movie of plain horror and bloody hell.

"I love pain," he said joyfully. "I love it. You should too, dear Starfire. You'll be seeing it more and more these days."

"There was nothing we can do," Robin said slowly. "Nothing…there is nothing…"

"There is something," Raven said, picking her words carefully, for she felt that growing pain inside herself, the pain of guilt. She didn't want to say the wrong thing. "We know Ramka had something to do with this. If we keep going on this journey, to the desert…than we will find her."

"Yeah, but how do we know what he's doing to her now?" Robin said, his voice rising. "How do we know that he isn't torturing her? How do we know that she isn't in pain? Why did he have to take her?"

"Ramka will pay," Cyborg said seriously. "He will pay. Because he took our friend." He looked quickly at Anielle, who stood there with her head down, trying to hide what she felt just then. "All of our friends."

"Robin," Beast boy said. "Robin, we just have to hope that he isn't doing anything to her. Maybe just…talking to her or something."

"Yeah," Robin said quietly. "Let's hope."

"There is no hope, fools!" Andrew yelled. "Hope is just something you puny humans can believe in. Hope is nothing. Just like everything is..."

The five stood there for a moment or two longer, wondering how this could ever come to be. Why had they not been able to protect their friend they cared for so dearly, and why it was not they instead of her? Regret is what they felt. Guilt is what they knew.

One striking thought came across all of their minds, making them all jump: _You are never safe. Not even from yourselves. _It was a thought that they knew didn't belong to them. Anielle knew it was from Andrew.

Minutes passed, or it could have been hours. Starfire felt that tight grip of Andrew's arms loosen , him holding her in both arms as did Robin and Cyborg held Anielle the day before. He keeping her from falling to the hard ground. She felt weak, very weak, from the numbness and from seeing the sadness on the faces of her friends. She hated it. Star despised every bit of it. Why had Andrew caused her friends so much pain?

_Where are you going?_ She thought out to them, knowing they would not hear. Her lips felt like led, unable to move, but what she thinking out to them seemed to be speaking out to them, for she heard her own voice. It was good enough.

Only Anielle stopped and turned around to where they stood in shadow, but she quickly turned away, wincing as if someone just hit her, forcing her to keep walking. She was in so much pain already, that she did not want to force her brother to put more onto her in his enjoyment. Tonight would be a long night for her. For all of them.

_Why do you leave me?_ Starfire really wanted to talk to Robin, to have him hear what she was saying, but she knew he would not be able to hear. She knew he never would. But what she did not know was that he already did before. Robin did not listen to her, by the help of Anielle, and if he did, Starfire would not be in the arms of the one they once had trusted.

_Why do you leave me, Robin? _She was right there. She was only twenty feet away. How could he not see her, feel her presence?

_Why?_

"They can't hear you, you know," Andrew said from above her. He looked at the red hair that fell across the face of the girl he held, as he smiled pleasingly. "Even if you do try to speak into their minds, it won't work. You can talk to me, though, as long as you like. I'm sure I will be one of the only people you will be talking to. If you can call us 'people', that is."

_Why?_

Starfire quickly looked into the restaurant that lay just across from her, at the fat waitress who still studied her coffee. How stupid she was, Star realized, for not noticing what was going on out here. What had already happened. How stupid she was.

_Why?_

A troubled thought came across Starfire. She hated it, but she felt it was true.

_Why do you do this to me? Why do you leave me? Now of all times when I needed you most of all?_

"Fine," Andrew said, rolling his eyes. "Plead all you like…but you aren't getting anywhere."

Robin…do not leave me…please… 

They all climbed into the T-car. Without her. They all closed their doors. Without her. They all got on their belts that are on the seats. Without her. They all breathed the air in the T-car. Without her. Cyborg turned on the engine. Without her. They were leaving.

Without her.

Why? 

Robin turned to the empty seat next to Beast boy. Where Starfire would have been sitting. If it wasn't for Andrew.

Robin…. why? 

Robin wished he would meet Andrew again, to fight him in a fair fight. A fair fight for Starfire. Then again, he asked himself why he wasn't the one who was captured. Why had it have to be Starfire? Starfire of all people? Why not him?

Why? 

The T-car backed out of where it was parked, and slowly drove away from the shadows where she stood. Without her. They were leaving without her. She wanted to run after them, even if they couldn't see her. Star just wanted to get away from Andrew; she just wanted to be with her friends again.

_Why do you leave me?_

She knew she couldn't. She was too weak.

"Well, the show is over," Andrew said sadly. "What a pity. What a pity. And it was starting to get better."

A figure appeared next to him, the lump Star realized. The thought of this man right next to her made her jump in Andrew's arms, making his smile widen.

"Ah, you," Andrew said to the lump. The lump nodded to him. "You know the boss is not going to be too happy about this." He revealed the cut that still was bleeding on Starfire's stomach, and quickly hid her shoulder with his free hand. He would not have the lump know.

"Sorry," the lump said. "She got in the way."

"Try telling that to Ramka," Andrew said fiercely, getting a better grip around Starfire's waist. "You're not aloud to hurt the target. Unless you have to kill them, that is. He won't be too happy about this."

"Why should you care?" the lump said, a pleading look in his eyes. "It's my head, not yours."

"It was nice being your co-worker," Andrew replied, grinning. "I hope I'm the one to cut off your precious head. That's the only reason I care, dear Riley."

The lump's frown deepened as Andrew spoke his name. How he hated his name, but how he hated Andrew for even dare speaking it. How dare he.

Lifting Starfire's body into both of his arms, and still making sure the nail markings were not to be seen, he said a few words under his breath, and in a flash, he disappeared. It was time to deliver the target.

To his wonderful boss.

Ramka.

Any suggestions? Feel free to put them in when your review! 

**Comments to the reviewers:**

**Beautifully-evil: **Never stop asking questions. Questions are good…and believe me, you may get sick of them, but we all need the dreaded answers! And to tell you the truth…life is weird. Life _is_ the weirdness.

**WindyDays:** Ever read the Goosebumps books? No? Yes? I've read some of them…they don't even give you goosebumps, unless your really superstitious, which I am not calling you that (I can be really superstitious…believe me). It's nice to have fear; gets you out of the boring drone of life. Really, it helps. I wish I were going on vacation…let's hope get the laptop! No worries, no worries…

**Mollykat**: Sorry about the confuzzlingness…maybe your sickness is/was getting to you. Read the last chapter over if you really want to. But life is confusing, isn't it?


	9. Hadan

This chapter really introduces our mad man and his personality, Ramka. Yayness.

I've been really trying to make things clearer in this chapter, hope it helps

. A warning…some swearing here and there. My apologies…

I know I know last chapter was confusing. I'm really really really sorry…plz except my apologies…I think I over explain things, and just add too much…I tried really hard this chapter not to do this.. how bout this. I'll give you a summary overall the last eight chapters, just to freshen up everybody. Read it if you want, if you don't want to, skip to reading the chapter.

The Full and Complete Summary So Far In One Chunky Paragraph: When time stops, Anielle, a sad 16-year-old orphan, finds that she can still move. She catches the attention of two of the Praised Ones, Robin and Cyborg, who appeared to be looking for someone. Regretting that she caught their attention, Anielle runs up stairs, loses consciousness in a fury of pain, causing Robin to pity her and bring her back to the tower, and keeping in mind that he wanted answers. Strange feelings cross them when they walk back to Titan's Tower, and the others seem affected as well. Raven goes into the girl's mind, but is drawn to a vision of a demon and a burning room, and is once again thrown back into reality. When time suddenly starts running again, a warning is sent, The Time of Warning. Anielle awakens and gives the Titans very limited information due to her brother's control over her. A poem starts them on their way on the journey, what road to take, The Trap, led by a note appearing out of thin air, giving them details they wanted yet, didn't. Their journey begins, along with unusual events, the voices that sung, the sighting of a Lump, a deserted rest stop, followed by a rest stop where they meet Andrew, and beyond disgusting food. The lump, followed by a dozen more that looked like him (hobos), appear to be a threat, causing the Titans to focus on the wrong enemy. Andrew, using the little trust he gained from them and the distraction, takes Starfire, and disappears, along with the distraction, leaving the Titans to ask the question:_Why and How?_ So many questions unanswered, a supposedly long journey ahead of them, their friend taken by the hands of the enemy, and the unknown. That's all they have. Except each other, and trust they can never give again.

Hope that helps…( comments at the end!)

Fonts:

Bold: Basically with Ramka.

_Italics: Thoughts, speech in the mind, what happened in the past. If it is _regular,_ its abbreviated or if its Italics and its _regular_ it's the thoughts of someone_

Sorry for keeping you away from the chapter….

Disclaimer: And all that jazz…

Chapter 9

"Ah, you," Andrew said to the lump. The lump nodded to him. "You know the boss is not going to be too happy about this." He revealed the cut that still was bleeding on Starfire's stomach, and quickly hid her shoulder with his free hand. He would not have the lump know.

"Sorry," the lump said. "She got in the way."

"Try telling that to Ramka," Andrew said fiercely, getting a better grip around Starfire's waist. "You're not aloud to hurt the target. Unless you have to kill them, that is. He won't be too happy about this."

"Why should you care?" The lump said, a pleading look in his eyes. "It's my head, not yours."

"It was nice being your co-worker," Andrew replied, grinning. "I hope I'm the one to cut off your precious head. That's the only reason I care, dear Riley."

The lump's frown deepened as Andrew spoke his name. How he hated his name, but how he hated Andrew for even dare speaking it. How dare he.

Lifting Starfire's body into both of his arms, and still making sure the nail markings were not to be seen, he said a few words under his breath, and in a flash, he disappeared. It was time to deliver the target.

To his wonderful boss.

Ramka.

--

--

**Andrew re-appeared in front of a cave opening, or in other words in front of a hole that was dug into a mountain that surrounded a vast forest. What he stood on was a ledge that stuck out as if it were a nose of the mountain, and behind him . The opening didn't seem to be a cave, but it was what Andrew referred it to. The reason why Ramka chose this certain place as his hideout was because it didn't consist any humans (that are alive) and so non humans can go about doing whatever the hell they wanted in the trees below without being distracted by humans, and doing his boss's dirty work in the process.**

"**Anybody home?" Andrew took a couple of steps closer to the mouth of the cave. It wasn't smart to barge in while somebody was in there, and when they were busy doing something, if anything. That person would most likely be Ramka. The consequences would not be pretty. Seeing Ramka both annoyed and mad at the same time was not what you wanted. It would be worse if you harmed a target without being told to.**

"**Hello?" he called out once again, a little annoyed. **

**He waited a few seconds, and then when no answer came he delivered the news. "I got your Tamaranian girl here waiting in my arms in the cold, dear ole' Ramka. I'm sure you don't want her to freeze since it _is_ mighty cold out here…my ass is about to frost over, if you really wanted to know." **

**A loud dissatisfied grunt came from the darkness inside the cave. Andrew shrugged, and walked right in, taking the grunt as Ramka's own and personal welcoming 'hello'.**

**As soon as he stepped in the tunnel like cave, he was wrapped in darkness. As much as pain, this was his second favorite thing in the whole world, next to blood, that is. **

**The feeling of the cave was a bit chilly, but warmer than it was outside. The walls were made out of some kind of rock, rock that kept in the dampness, and also the growing smell of decay. If there were to possibly be a flood (if water could even reach where the cave was; the cave was located 100 feet above the ground, and was covered by the tops of the trees) the temperature would go way down, freezing every living soul in seconds, but it still would never wash out the smell that has been there for ages. Andrew knew this from others who lived to tell about Ramka's hiding place.**

**A few minutes after walking forward blindly in the darkness, turning left, and then right, and almost bumping into the wall as a few more curves formed, he came upon a lit torch, which revealed 5 feet of the surrounding area. It was enough to see chains hanging from the walls, knotted tightly around rotting wrists of skeletons with decaying flesh hanging from their yellow bones. He could see about six skeletons hanging with the bottom jaws missing, and two bodies that had most of the flesh still attached to the bones. Andrew was sure there were more that hung in the darkness, hidden by the light. He shivered at the thought of how they became that way. Andrew knew they only hung there for about a week before their flesh began to rot off. **

**Though time had its way with them, they all died the same death. Time made the skin slip off. Time made the bones turn something other than white, and soon enough, time would turn the bones to dust. **

"**All of your prisoners never leave this cave, now do they?" Andrew said, bemused, as he looked around with interest. He hadn't actually been in the place before, but he was beginning to like it. The smell of it made him love it even more. "They make great decorations. I should bring you over to my apartment sometime, for decoration purposes."**

"**They never leave," came a deep voice from a dark corner. His voice practically said it all, saying that he was the one who killed these people, and he had the urge to kill you. The light did not reveal where he was located, but he obviously was in the shadows that was the end of the cave. "You're right on time. As expected."**

"**Of course, dear ole' Ramka," Andrew said cheerfully. "What do you expect from the best?"**

"**Shut your mouth," Ramka said roughly. "There are many who are better than you. Ones smarter, ones who wouldn't even give a damn about the weather."**

"**Should I be hurt?"**

"**You will be hurting if you make one wrong move, boy."**

"**Yeah, yeah, whatever."**

"**Shut up and listen."**

"**I'm listening," Andrew said, looking around once more. "Can I borrow one of these skeletons? Really, they would match my cracked mirror…"**

**A louder grunt came from the shadows.**

**There was a pause. Andrew felt the eyes of the aging man pass over the target, which of course was now his prisoner, one that would never leave this cave, like all the others. _Just like all the others…_**

**He heard another grunt, one dissatisfied from the shadows, signaling that he was not happy. Andrew noticed that his hand didn't cover his nail markings on the Tamaranian's shoulder anymore. His hand was on the small part of the girl's back, helping to keep the girl's weight steady. It had betrayed him, that hand. He swore, since he knew it was too late to cover up his mistake. Andrew thought of cutting off his hand later on, if he remembered.**

"**Explain," Ramka said angrily.**

"**Weren't you watching?" Andrew said, confused. **

"**What do you think?"  
**

"**Yeah?"  
**

"**Yes, I was. Explain."**

"**If you were watching, then why-''**

"**I want to hear what you have to say about it. Don't play dumb with me!"**

"**Oh!" Andrew said, acting surprised, which he wasn't. "I should have known. But _first_, can I-''**

"Explain." His voice, as unpleasant as it already was to listen to, said the words with such anger that it made Andrew wince.

"**That idiot, Riley. He did it."**

"**And?"  
**

"**That's it."**

"**And?" Ramka said again, growing even more impatient by the second.**

"**And what?" Andrew spat. He was now a bit on edge, and dropped the unconscious girl onto the hard ground with a loud thump. He hadn't realized the girl had left consciousness, but he didn't really care. "Can I have my next assignment?"**

"What the hell was that for?" Ramka yelled, forcing Andrew to step back.

"**She's going to die anyways."**

"**Shut up, boy. Don't be a fool. One more mistake, and you're dead. One more mistake, and your _deader_ than dead."**

"**That reminds me…"Andrew scanned the ceiling thoughtfully, but there was no ceiling to be seen. Darkness hid what was way up there, if anything.**

**Sighing, Ramka said," What? What do you want _now_?"**

**Andre smiled. "I want Riley's head."**

"**You will do as I say. No question about it."**

"**And you say…?"**

"**You're next assignment, is this." From the shadows, Ramka silently slid an envelope across the dusty floor over to Andrew. **

**He picked it up, ripped it open, and took out a picture of a brunette woman with bright blue eyes. On the back the name "Lauren Oldsburg" was written in messy handwriting. (The same handwriting on the note the Titans received the day before). Age: 30. "Well?"**

"**Find her. Kill her."  
**

"**That's too damn easy. I'll be done by tomorrow."  
**

"**Good. Glad you think your work is easy." Ramka's voice returned to its regular unpleasantness. "Try getting it done by tonight. I have a few more assignments for you… one I'm sure you'll enjoy."**

"**What about Riley?"**

"**What about him?"**

"**I get to kill him. If you don't allow me to, I will hunt down the one who did. Mark my word for it." Andrew frowned, and added quietly, "God damn if it isn't me."  
**

**Ramka laughed at this. "Well, well. How about this. You do your job, and we'll go on from there, understand?"**

"**Yeah," Andrew said slowly. "I understand, _sir_."**

"**You still got some manners, I see. You're lucky that won't kill you."**

**Andrew smirked. A minute slid by, and he still stood there with his smirk on his face, brooding over what he would do to the woman, the woman in the picture he held in his hand. He was in the deep and dreadful mood of killing something, and here was his chance.**

"**What the hell are doing standing around, boy? Get out of here!" Ramka sounded mad, which made Andrew nod in acknowledgement. He gave one last glance at the girl who lay on the ground, thought about spitting on her, and then again thought against it. Ramka was listening to everything he thought, which made things tricky. **

**He could hide nothing, but he did not mind that much. Others couldn't hide things from him either, so he got his share of the fun. He couldn't have everything he wanted.**

**Andrew walked off, his footsteps echoing against the walls as he was swallowed into the darkness beyond. **

--

--

Silence fell heavily inside the T-car. Not a sound escaped their lips, except for the soft breathing that kept them living. The car drove past lush green hills that, if they cared to notice, became less and less green by the mile.All there thoughts wondered off about Starfire, and nothing more.

"Uhh…guys? What just _happened_?" Beast boy asked, utterly confused. No one thought this surprising that he was the one who broke the silence. Beast boy wanted someone to explain the events to him; it just befuddled him even more while he played them out in his mind. He needed to _understand_ what was causing this sadness other than something bad. He needed someone to tell him then and there.

"Something horrible happened," Robin said finally when no one else chose to answer, pain streaking his words. "Something we will never forget. Something that could have been prevented if I could of just opened…just open my _eyes_…and…and just-"

"Robin, it wasn't you're fault," Cyborg said, before Robin could go ranting off about how guilty he felt. "It wasn't just you. You can't continue to put yourself down like that. You aren't the only one in this."

"If only I had seen that Starfire was the one who was in danger…all along…"

"We all were," Raven said calmly. "We all are, still. We are up against an unknown enemy. One we question but with no answers thrown back at us."

"Who is the enemy? How do we know Ramka is not working alone?" Robin said hastily, speaking too loudly for the small capacity of the T-car. He completely ignored what Raven had just said. "How do we know that we aren't walking straight into a trap? Huh? How do we know that Ramka could kill us right now, except now he's just playing around with us as if we were pieces of a _game_? How do we know that Star isn't suffering right now! Or dead! Or-''

"We don't, Robin," Anielle said quickly, before Robin went mad with questions. Except she _was_ the one with all the answers; she was the one who was told in the beginning, but could not burst with the answers. She was the one who was suffering silently because of it. Her brother was using her innocent voice again. "There are more questions than answers. Stop asking them. Please, it will only make matters worse."

"Things are already pretty bad," Cyborg commented. "Trust. Damn, we can't trust anybody anymore!"

"Except each other," Robin said quietly, making Anielle wince. "We are the only ones we got. And if one more is taken…"

"We are already falling apart," Raven said sadly. "Robin, Cyborg, keep your minds _focused_. If we stray form the path, then there is no telling if we can get back on track. _Focus._"

"She's right," Cyborg said, looking at the night sky that lay far above. There still were no stars, just the darkness that surrounded the T-car and the fading green hills. A darkness that would always be there, till the end.

'So uhh…what just happened back there?" Beast boy asked once again.

"Star was taken by Andrew," Robin said weakly. "I…we… were distracted by the men in the grey cloaks, and Andrew used our trust…our _trust_…and the distraction to take her, somewhere. He used our trust…. why couldn't I see it? Why couldn't I see it!"

"I knew we couldn't trust the guy," Cybog said. "There was something about him I didn't like. I still don't."

"How could I be so blind!" Robin yelled out, blinded by guilt and frustration.

"Robin, stop blaming yourself," Raven said. "Calm down."

"How could I…I don't know, I just don't know," Robin said quietly, cooling down a little. He looked out his window into the darkness surrounding them. He wondered just then how it got so dark …darker than usual…what time is it? Robin checked the time on the digital clock the T-car provided. It read: 11:47.

"How could it be so dark?" Robin thought aloud, jumping at the sound of his own voice.

"It is…kind of creepy," Beast boy said, agreeing with him. "It's so dark…does it seem darker than usual?"

"Yeah," Cyborg said. "The headlights barely show a couple of feet ahead. Where the heck is the moon?"

"Gone," Anielle found herself saying. "It's gone. It's fled."

"Huh?" Cyborg said, astounded.

"How can the moon run?" Beast boy asked curiously.

"I don't know…" replied Anielle. Her brother was using her again. She didn't know when he would fully control her, but she knew if she slept, her mind would be too vulnerable then, and it probably was vulnerable right now. Soon, she presumed, she _felt_, her brother would have more control of her than just her arms, her arms that felt like they weren't even there.

"Why would the moon be gone?" Raven asked her.

"Ramka," Robin growled.

"Robin, we can't be sure," Raven said. "Maybe we are in a cloud somehow and we just don't know it."

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be this dark," Cyborg said. "The surroundings would look greenish if we were in a cloud. It's just black. Plain blackness. We can't even see the hills."

"The moon can't just _leave_," Beast boy said. "Isn't the moon on this rotating thing?"

"Ramka," Robin said once again.

"How do we know its Ramka?" Raven said. "We can't keep blaming him because of every wrong thing that's going on."

"He can stop time," Cyborg said. "Who knows what else he can do."

"True," Raven said. "But we can't be certain. What if –''

"It's Ramka," Robin said. "It's Ramka. Ramka is behind everything. Ramka _is_ the master mime in this. He is the one who is behind all the bad things. He is the one who stole Starfire. No one else could pull off a trick like disappearing into thin air. No one."

"Except someone who could stop time," Beast boy pointed out.

"It couldn't have been Ramka," Raven insisted. "It was Andrew. He was the one who took our friend. We don't know that it was Ramka he could have been working for."

"So you're saying Starfire won't be at the end of this? We will never find her?" Robin said angrily, turning towards Raven.

"I'm saying we don't have all the facts straight," Raven said, matching up to Robin's anger, still keeping control of her emotions.

"Facts! Now you want _facts_? What about the obvious? What about what lies right in front of our faces!"

"We will find Starfire. We will find her, no matter what it takes. We will. All I'm saying—''

"All your saying is that Starfire is gone for good? We will never find her, is _that _it?"

"No! It's not! If you would just listen to me then—''

"Then what? You can keep saying that Star's gone for good? Huh?"

"Robin! Do you _want_ her in the hands of Ramka?"

""Its better than knowing we will never find her!"

"We don't even know who the hell this Ramka guy _is_!" Cyborg yelled, interfering. "How can you say it's better than not knowing where she is? We don't even know where she is to begin with!"

"With Ramka," Robin said. "He's at the end of this."

"We don't know for sure," Raven said. "All we have is that poem and that note telling us where to go. We don't even know where that is!"

"There is no other explanation," Robin said. "He's the only one who could possibly know us, and where we are headed."

"How do we know this?"

"We don't! There is _nothing_ we know! We are left with nothing while our friend is out there! All because of _trusting_ one guy!"

"Calm down!" yelled Cyborg.

"Dude," Beast boy said, looking at Raven and then Robin. "Forget it, alright? W e can't do anything right now, except continue this long journey. All we can do is _hope_ that we will find Star."

"Hope," Robin said softly, facing the front once again. "Hope…yeah…that's all we have besides each other…"

"Robin," Raven said. "You aren't the only one who cares for Starfire. Beast boy's right. We just have to keep going, no looking back. All we can do is hope."

"Do you guys want to stop and get some air?" Cyborg suggested. "I think we need a rest."

"Great idea," Beast boy said.

Raven and Robin nodded in agreement.

Anielle nodded as well, still bewildered about what just happened. She silently recalled what Andrew had said about hope, feeling disgusted and uncomfortable as the words slid into her mind.

Don't we all wish for something like that? Like hope? There is no hope. 

"There is no hope." Anielle mouthed the words over and over again, feeling as if she were possessed. Her brother laughed inside of her, acknowledging what she thought.

"I miss the moon," Beast boy said softly to no one in particular. "You never really seem to appreciate someone or something until its gone or taken away from you. I finally realize that now…"

--

--

Only seconds before Ramka had put out the light the torch gave off with his bare hands. The obscure light had only a mid second to reveal a man looking deathly old, though much older than he appeared to be. His white hair was down to his forearm, and his eyes were young and the color that did not seem possible. What it showed was what Beast boy had seen before, his human form.

Though, what the green Titan did not exactly see was that there were only clumps of hair on his head, leaving bald spots in the most random places. A thought dawned on him, what the green one had actually seen when Ramka had showed him in that millisecond when he was walking out of the odd shaped building. He had shown the Titan his true human form, of course, but why had he not told the others? It could have been just like Anielle, her knowing the answers but being forced not to have them be spoken, but it wasn't, Ramka was sure of that. He had given Beast boy the free will of actually telling his friends. What confused him was exactly _why_ Beast boy hadn't spilled the beans yet. Unlike the poor and tortured Anielle, he had a choice, a choice Ramka wanted him to use so the Titans wouldn't be left to face such a vague unknown that's ahead of them.

He usually appeared to people as a man about the age of sixty, his hair to his shoulders, no balding spots, and his eyes were as they always had been. That wasn't the reason why Beast boy hadn't told his so called 'friends'. He probably just forgot or something. _Stupid idiot, _Ramka thought, than something else sparked an idea. _Perhaps it's that TV that rots the human's brain…or he might just be plain stupid. Like the whole lot of the human beings._

The thought slipped away as soon as it came, and now Ramka stood in darkness with the growing smell of decay. The darkness didn't bother him much, for his eyes were just like an owl's; he could see everything in the dark as any human and most of the non-humans could see everything in the light.

Ramka peered at the Tamaranian girl on the ground. How peaceful she looked laying there, not knowing what was in store for her. Oh boy, she wouldn't even know what hit her! Plus, to add to the excitement, she wouldn't even remember anything; she only would remember what Ramka wanted her to.

As he picked her up gently, he silently noted the nail markings on her shoulder once again. _Damn you, Andrew, _he thought. _Damn you, you never listen. Damn…_ Even though it was a minor incident, Andrew would still have to pay. He had to learn to listen. If he didn't, his mistakes would cost him his life.

By the end of the cave there hung an empty pair of chains, a spot that would do just fine. Ramka swiftly knotted the chain tightly around Starfire's delicate wrists, leaving her hanging like all the others. (He never really liked modern day handcuffs that were created 1862; he had one of his men kill the inventor intentionally) Her head rolled off to the side, her breath coming out in rasps, as if she was having a bad dream, which probably she was.

Ramka stood there a minute, staring at the alien girl. Studying her facial features and her hair, he went over the procedure of her soon to become fate. He loved his job, he really did. This was one of the best types of torture he had to offer to those who unwillingly went through it.

Ramka smiled a toothy smile, and closed his eyes. His mind opened up, and reached out to the girl's, snatched it, and collided along with it so that they joined together. Their minds now were hooked, their souls along with it, for it was a dream Ramka was planning to draw up. He quickly scanned what lay deep within the corners of the Tamaranian's mind, found what she most desired, used it, and deleted all that needed to be forgotten. Ramka forced her to forget the Teen Titans, where she was from, her name, her dreams, her hopes and wishes, and everything she dared to care for. She would be as dumb as a doornail. Her mind was pretty much blank, which was exactly what he wanted. A lot of questions would be asked, but that was fine with him. The more questions, the better. He left the simple things person would know in her mind.

In the dream he would create, he would poor all the information he wanted her mind to understand and believe. He would talk to her until her mind was destroyed, her soul he would poison and steal for his own use. Her brain would burst with knowledge she wouldn't understand, yet would know because Ramka would make it so. The girl would then cease to breathe, and die one of the most painful death there was: being destroyed from inside out. From mental to physical. From mind and soul to body. (There were many painful ways to die, but Ramka only used the ones he enjoyed most.)

Ramka called this torture 'Hadan' after the first victim he had used the torture on. Hadan was destroying one's mind slowly and painfully, forcing their minds to be forgotten and forced into oblivion. Ramka did this by colliding with one's mind, where they would be trapped in the distraction, a dream. There, Ramka would talk to them, and they would listen. The more questions, the better. The more information they took in, the faster Hadan would be completed.

As he continued to tamper with her mind, he quickly brought out the dream he would appear to her in, so they could talk and she would listen…

They were in a room. Fuzzy sunshine poured itself in through the open doors next to where they sat. Starfire sat at one side of the glass table with a nicely finished wooden outline, and Ramka at the other. The walls of the room were see-through glass windows attached by flexible metal, revealing a beautiful garden with all the flowers of Earth and Tameran mixed together. A brick path started from the open glass doors leading somewhere behind the green awe striking plants. The scent washed up upon both of the sitting figures, making it seem as if they were in a living heaven. Birds chirped happily in the distance, a harp echoed from a distance, the vast blue sky towered over them through the enchanted clear glass roof making the place seem like a dream come true…

Starfire shot open her eyes, exiting out of a nightmare she didn't remember. Squinting from the sudden brightness, she silently scanned everything around her, enchanted, but what really caught her eye was the man that sat before her. Confused, her mouth ajar in awe and befuddlement, she continued to take in her surroundings, wondering how she got there.

The man before her appeared to be around the age of sixty, had his gray hair to his shoulders, and colored eyes that could never actually be possible. He deeply despised his surroundings, but his face took the position of a kind elderly person. He really hated this, but it was something the alien girl liked, or so he assumed, based on what her mind revealed. That was what it had to be, unless she would be uncomfortable or feel like a stranger, something he did not want.

"Where am I?" Starfire asked, her voice full of wonder and a pinch of fright.

"Where are you not?" Ramka said calmly. His voice was as deep and unpleasant as ever, but the Tamaranian girl didn't seem to take any notice.

"Where…where am I not? I…I do not know."

"What a pity. Tell me, what do you know?"

"I…I…do not remember anything. Who am I?" She began to panic. " Who are you? Where are we? Why do I not remember anything? How did I-''

"Let's start with the first question, who you are. How can I put this nicely? Oh yes, you are not a nice person. In fact, you are a _horrible_ person, one who is hated by all. You killed your parents by cutting their throats in anger when you were ten, you burned down the local school along with neighboring houses, you black mailed your friends into giving them everything you desired and if they didn't listen you killed them and destroyed their homes along with their families. You are hated by all, _except_ me. You trust me. I am your only friend. You believe in everything I tell you. You got rid of your name. You don't have a name, so you ended up calling yourself Nameless because of what an awful and idiotic person you are. You are feared and hated by all."

"That…that is _horrible_," Starfire said, horror stricken. "How could I be such a person? Why do I not remember this about me?"

"It _is_ best forgotten," Ramka said simply, smiling. "You forgot because you couldn't stand it. It almost destroyed you along with you _hating_ yourself. You want to rip your skin off your bones, but you won't. I won't let you." He said the last part with such sweetness, that it brought a smile to the Tamaranian's face, and her green eyes sparkled.

"Then I should be in debt to you, am I correct?"

"It's not my choice, it's yours."

"Then I shall. Who are you, though? Would I not remember you if I wished to be in debt to you? If you were…if you were my friend?"

"Well…let's just say you forgot everything. You let your mind forget me. It's normal, don't worry. Anyway, that's why I have brought you here, to this wonderful Paradise, to get away. A…a vacation, let's say."

"I am happy I am on this… vacation. Tell me, what is this vacation?"

"A place where you go to get away from everyday living. Or in your case, to get away from an angry mob. An angry mob is a group of angry humans trying to kill something. That something is you."

"I am…happy to be on this vacation?" Star sounded uncertain. "But since I am such a person who…kills…would I not want to kill _them_?"

Ramka laughed, his laugh even more unpleasant than his voice, but Starfire didn't take any notice."I guess you would, because that's the kind of person you are indeed. But before you could lead yourself to do so, you forgot everything."

"I am happy…relieved to be on this vacation."

"You _should_ be…you should be…" Ramka chuckled. "I can't keep my name a secret for long, now can I? I'm sure you would love me to tell."

"Indeed I would. Please, tell me. I wish to know."

"Fence. Please, call me Fence." He sure as hell wouldn't give her his real name. His name brought up memories, which was bad at this point. If she remembered what he didn't want her to, all could go down hill, and she could possibly break through Hadan. But that was only if she had a strong mind, and he sensed she didn't. A week she would last through Hadan, and Ramka didn't want any mistakes.

"Fence…Fence. Fence." Starfire worked the name around her tongue, getting used to the single syllable. "Fence. I like your name. It is better one being called Nameless..."

"Even one with a better name does not make them a better person."

"Are you like me?" she asked innocently, hopefully.

"No, no one is as bad and distasteful as _you_. You would go straight down to hell when you die. But I am the one and only…person I guess you could call me… who cares about you, I am the one who cares for the one who has a ticket to the Underworld."

She nodded, taking it all in. She had a disgusted look on her face, but she seemed to enjoy it. Ramka loved doing this, and to the ones before her as well, just like all the others…he felt like the teacher, she the student. Smart. Dumb. He, the author, she the reader. He absolutely regretted not doing this sooner in his life.

"Where are we?"

"On Earth, the cursed planet." A lie. They _were_ on the planet, but really in an alternate reality, the entrance placed in the desert the Titans were headed towards. They were in a cave that was carved into a mountain that surrounded a gigantic forest that stretched for miles and miles. This was his hideout, the whole place. It was an illusion, but an illusion only the strongest of minds can break, and the only strong minds that entered the place were the ones who did his bidding.

There was a pause. Starfire took her eyes off Ramka for the first time she began talking and said ,"What is this Earth? Why is it …the cursed?"

Ramka's voice sounded irritated. Surely anybody would know what Earth was. He finally decided that his guess was wrong. "It's a planet, which the human race dominates over. The human race is the curse to the damn world, despising each other, killing each other for land, all the works."

"Just like me," Star mumbled. " I guess I am one of those so called 'humans' who do this."

'Yes. Yes, you are." Ramka knew she wasn't human, she luckily wasn't one of them, but she meant something to the Titans, and that was the only reason why he took her. She was the one who kept the peace between them, the one who sprung up most of the happiness. Happiness. Pshaw. He hated that word, along with 'love', 'hope', and all shit like that.

She was the bait, pretty much. Without her, the Titans would soon tear them selves apart, from the inside out.

"I am. Why must we, humans, do this to each other? I do not get this…why we must be so…idiotic?" She looked up at him, a spring of excitement and understanding appeared in her eyes. " Is that the right word to use?" Ramka nodded, and Starfire continued. "Please explain to me why we are this way."

"Alright. I'll give you a history lesson, about why this damned human race deserves to die. I will end their race; I will make them become extinct. Oh, and by the way…I'm not human."

"What are you then?" Star looked puzzled.

"I am your friend. Is that not enough? I am a friend who you didn't blackmail, because I am the only one who understands you. That is all. Is that not enough?"

Starfire nodded obediently. "That is enough. But what about the Earth? Will it be left…without domination? Empty? Someone should…destroy it at least, am I correct?"

Ramka smiled. "My, my, interested aren't we? You are correct. My lovely ally Trigon will do that. I deal with the humans, he deals with Earth and all that. Destroying it by using his own daughter as a portal. "

"How will you destroy the humans?" Starfire hit a realization that she did not like at all. "I guess I shall be destroyed as well…I am human…I am one of those who must be destroyed…"

"Oh, I wouldn't destroy _you_. We are friends, remember? Friends don't destroy each other… unless you were _you_ of course." Star nodded in agreement. "But now, on with the history lesson. A lesson that is true, a lesson that will teach you the stupid ways of the human race. A lesson you _will _never forget…"

--

--

"What do you guys want to eat?" Cyborg asked sleepily. He hadn't slept much last night, not even during their short rest at the side of the main road where the rest slept (except Anielle) and Raven meditated. It was early in the morning, and they were parked in front of a supermarket at a rest stop.

"Anything that's eatable," Beast boy said from the back seat. "I'm starved."

"Yeah, Cy, get whatever you think will last us a day or two," Robin said.

"All right," Cyborg said. He would have made a joke about Beast boy eating all the food before the rest of them got to it, but thought against it. Each one of them still was mortified by Starfire's abduction, especially Robin, and they seemed to be too far from returning back to normal. They never would, because the one who kept them together was not with them anymore. Anielle figured that this was the reason why Ramka chose Starfire out of all the rest of them to steal.

Cyborg walked away slowly towards the entrance of the Supermarket, leaving the four Titans and a tired Anielle waiting in the T-car. They thought they were alone, but of course, they weren't. Someone was watching them. Someone they couldn't see but the one who was watching could see them. It was Andrew. He sat in the darkness of the restaurant that was across from the Supermarket, watching and sensing their pain with amusement.

He had been there the night before, doing his job, though this time there weren't as many instructions, except this: Find her. Kill her. All the same, it made him feel that he could do whatever he wanted to kill Lauren. Andrew remembered quite well of what happened last night in this restaurant, every stringy detail.

He had gone into the thirty year old's mind, reading every thought she had, and located her easily. Andrew found her at a restaurant, the one he sat in now, to be exact. The woman appeared to be lost and confused, but he knew she was there for a purpose. Lauren Oldsburg was there to warn the Titans, give them a message, though she doubted they would believe her. She wasn't even sure they would come to this restaurant until the next day. Andrew laughed at this. And here they were the next morning, buying food at the Supermarket. Andrew remembered every stringy detail about what happened the night before….

--

"_You look…down," Andrew had said softly as he stood right by the table where the woman sat._

"_I am," the woman said, sounding tired. "I'm sorry if I trouble you."_

"_No, of course not," Andrew said. "Shall I join you in drinking…water?" He had noticed the glass of water that sat before her._

"_Sure, why not," the woman said, a little relieved as the red headed man pulled up a chair. "Who might you be, to care for the likes of me?"_

"_The _likes_ of you?" Andrew said humorously. "That sounds a little harsh, I'm sure. I would like to cheer you up. It is…a bit crowded around here, you know, there barely being any seats that it's so full. It being loud and all. You being alone here sitting and drinking water…" It was a lie, he knew, an obvious one at that. It was just as deserted as the one he was at only an hour before. _

"_Yes, indeed it is," the woman said, her expression changing a bit because of the happy personality this man had. She didn't know that this man who appeared to be cheerful would end her life this night._

"_What's your name?" Andrew asked curiously. He resisted the urge of laughing, because he sounded too sweet, being all but who he was. If he did, he would give away his position, and right now he had the woman right where he wanted, not suspecting anything, only talking to some young guy who had a charming personality._

"_I…I'm…" The woman looked around nervously, as if someone was watching her. She sighed, saying, "Call me Mercy. Mercy Oldsburg."_

So, she lied about her real name,_ Andrew thought. _She's a horrible liar; anyways…I thought Messengers like her could lie better than this. Or even have _better_ cover than just a woman who appeared to be lost and confused. They must be desperate…

_Indeed this woman was a Messenger. Though Messengers were only Messengers, ones who gave messages to the ones who were against Ramka, they still had different fighting techniques. They were humans, humans who worked for a small force that tried to stop Ramka and his evil plans. The Messengers knew quite well that they couldn't face Ramka alone, so they helped others who were against him. Their weakness was that they were mere mortals, ones who died by just a simple knife to the heart. They appeared to be nothing compared to the non-humans. They had lost many Messengers lately to the hands of the Ramka's men. _

_Andrew had recently killed one of them; he would have captured one of the strongest and delivered him to Ramka so Ramka could use one of his torture methods on him (Hadan), and get all the information he contained in his well-protected mind. That was the one that got messy, causing Andrew to not to have a job for those lengthy 73 days. The assigned person, Andrew remembered very well, was Kurt Kildentail, age 19. He gladly killed him, since he did something Andrew never suspected a _human_ to do. Kurt fiddled with his goddamn _mind._ He screwed up his mind, that little son of. Exactly what Kurt did to his mind was still a mystery to Andrew._

"_Mercy," Andrew said, smiling. "Mercy. Mercy! Love the name." He hated it. "You seem familiar. Do I know you from somewhere?"_

"_Huh?" Mercy said, perking up once he spoke the word 'familiar.' "I don't know. What's your name?"_

Too damn easy,_ Andrew thought once again. _Let's see how she reacts to me being one of the Messengers. Using a little trick of the Lying Game. _"Cether," Andrew said playfully. "It's nice to meet you, _Mercy._"_

_The woman's eyes widened. "No…no…you _can't_ be…"She looked around once again, her mouth opened, closed, opened, and closed once again, trying to figure out what to say._

"_They sent me to check up on you," Andrew said seriously. "You really shouldn't lie to me, Lauren. Me of all people, my God."_ My God?_ He thought._ My God…never would have said that….

"_Why wasn't I able to sense you?" she asked, still surprised. 'You're…I…"She shook her head, and cleared her throat, trying to get back to business. "You know I can handle this on my own. I don't need help delivering this message to the Teen Titans."_

"_Oh?" Andrew asked. "What is the message, exactly?"_

"_They didn't tell you?" she asked, surprised once again._

"_I've been…patrolling lately. Haven't really stayed in touch." Andrews actually knew the message already, knowing everything in the woman's pitiful mind, but he was having fun asking questions.  
_

"_Oh. I guess it wouldn't hurt to inform you. I'm to tell them about their new companion, the one they picked up from the orphanage. She's…uhh…what's her name…" She banged her fist the table, almost spilling her glass of water, "Shit! Goddamn, why the hell can I not remember her name?"_

_Andrew raised an eyebrow._

"_I'm sorry…I really am." The woman sighed. "I'm supposed to warn them that their new companion is the one Ramka is looking for. The one who will…who will…shit…I can't remember the rest of the damn message…"_

"_Lauren, how can you deliver the message without remembering?" Andrew asked sincerely. "They would expect more from you."_

"_No, don't report me," Lauren said hastily. "Please…I only forget these things when I am around one of Ramka's men. All Messengers do, I'm sure you know. Shit. Oh shit…"_

"_Hey hey! No need for swearing," Andrew said, holding up his hands. "I'm sure they wouldn't bother us, since there are two of us. We can take them."_

"_And your Cether. One of the strongest…just like…just…like…"_

'_Kurt? Oh, what a pity it was for him to end up like that," Andrew said this with a bit of bluntness in his words. "He was one of the strongest as well. And he was alone, am I correct?"  
_

"_Alone, patrolling around a gateway to a non-human land in the desert, one we lack information about. The Desert of Nalen, the one the Titans are headed toward. The one East. Don't you know this?"  
_

"_I've been patrolling as well, not much word has gotten out to me for quite some time."  
_

"_Something seems…different about you."_

"_Not a lot of people have stayed in contact with me lately, you see."_

"_I know. That's the strange thing. And your personality is…"Her blue eyes flickered around the restaurant once more._

"_You're still worried about Ramka's men, aren't you?"_

"_It couldn't be the waiter, could it? No…he seems to calm, too preoccupied."_

"_You know, Kurt," Andrew said, yawning. "He was alone, right? Yeah, he was. Whatever. That means that you would have no chance against Ramka's men alone, right?"  
_

"_Yes," the woman said. "But I would now because you're here, thank God they sent you. Now I'm glad they sent you to check up on me. Glad _someone_ cares for the safety of a lowly Messenger…"_

"_The message is important."_

"_Oh! So it's the _message_ that they want to protect! I would not have suspected them trying to protect me any day." Lauren sighed heavily.  
_

"_What if…I told you I wasn't whom I really was," Andrew said thoughtfully._

"_What do you mean?"_

"_If I told you that Cether was already dead."_

"_Oh God, that's a horrible joke!" the woman exclaimed. "You're him. Why would you say something like that about yourself?"_

"_I'm not him."_

"_Your another Messenger," she said hopefully, " another one whom I will report to for jests such as one of the best dying!"  
_

"_I'm not a Messenger."_

_She looked at him, eyes wide with fear. "Who are you? Tell me right now who you are."_

"_Well, let's just say that all of the best Messengers are being hunted down right now. Just to make things easier for you. They have no chance. Neither do the rest of them." It was a bit of a lie, even though probably _all_ the Messengers would be extinct in two days, he presumed. Ramka would make sure of that._

"_What the _hell_ are you talking about?"  
_

"_If they have no chance, that makes it obvious that you don't either. We found where you are hiding. Actually, it was quite simple. All we had to do was follow one of your lowly Messengers, like you for example, to the hide out. You're hideout was…a Microsoft building. Never would have thought! A Microsoft Building !Dang… and now, I don't see why they would use one of the lowly to deliver a message to the Teen Titans! Guess they are desperate…doesn't matter anymore now that I think of it."  
_

"_Who are you? Who they hell are you?"_

"_Do you scream?" Andrew asked politely, standing up. "Do you?"_

_The waiter looked at them curiously, was about to say something, but thought against it. He wasn't about to get in a middle of fight._

"_You're one of Ramka's men, aren't you?"_

"_What took you so long?" Andrew smiled evilly. "Now tell me, do you scream?"  
_

_The woman got up from her seat as well. "No, I don't scream." Calmness enwrapped her face. "But I'm sure you do." As Lauren spoke the words, she got into battle stance._

"_So…you fight with fists," Andrew said coolly. An aching pain throbbed his chest, wanting him to rip out someone's throat. _

"_No weapons," Lauren said. "We fight with fists only. One of us dies tonight."_

"_No…actually two," Andrew said curtly, still smiling, even though his smile was not just a smile anymore. It was a sign that he was hungry for death. For pain. A knife appeared in his right hand out of thin air. _

"_No weapons I said!" the woman said, wild eyed, in distress as Andrew gripped the handle. "You –''Before she could finish what she was about to say, the knife already was in the throat of the waiter, blood spilling out and down his white shirt. His eyes opened so wide that the whiteness in them overtook the brown pupils as he slid down to the floor with a loud thump._

"_Pity, he doesn't scream," Andrew said, his smile dropping. He stared deeply into the eyes of his opponent, sensing fear of his quickness. "But you will."_

"_No! I won't give you that satisfaction!" yelled Lauren lunging forward to attack. _

_Grinning, Andrew dodged her flurry of punches, forcing him to move from side to side. He was too fast for them. Lauren's fists went through the air, hitting everything but the her opponent. She knew that she didn't have a chance, but she still had to try._

_After a minute, and right after Andrew moved stepped back away from a punch aiming for his chin, he said simply, "You're weak."_

_Anger flared in the woman's eyes. She wasn't fast enough, so she tried something he probably wouldn't expect from one who kept trying to punch him. She swung her foot into his side, expecting to hit flesh and bone, but instead hit hard substance. Before she could dwell upon the thought any longer or try to move again, Andrew had a deathly tight grip around her ankle, cutting off the circulation to her foot._

"_Let…me…_GO_…"Lauren said through clenched teeth, trying to free her foot from Andrew's clutch._

"_Why?" Andrew said simply. He dug his nails into her ankle through her jeans, and at the same time he threw against the wall behind him, and the sound of a loud bang brought a smile to his face. "You're weak."_

_The woman struggled to get up, but was forced down by a kick to her head, causing black spots to dance around her sight. She just realized that he wasn't even _trying_ to fight her, but was playing with her. There wasn't much energy behind his attacks, but they hurt like _hell. _She lay on the ground, breathing hard, trying to get enough energy to lift herself to her feet._

"_Don't even try," Andrew said from above her, and kicked her in the side, causing her to roll into a tight little ball. He saw the sweat poor down from her forehead. "I thought you would give a better fight than this. Fighting with just _fists?_ Is that all they teach you at your lovely Messenger Training?"_

"_Who…are…you?" Lauren spat out between labored breaths. _

"_My name wouldn't be very useful to you if you're just going to die," Andrew said happily, walking away from her towards the dead waiter. He pick pocketed him, finding his wallet, a pack of cigarettes, and something else he found mighty interesting. _But of course_, Andrew thought. _Every smoker needs one of these…

_He walked back towards Lauren slowly, cherishing every moment of the sight of pain. This time he wanted to make the pain last, since his other job hadn't given that much satisfaction. "You're weak," he repeated a third time, though as he spoke the words, a bit of excitement ran through them._

"_Do…you think…I already… know…that?" came Lauren's husk reply._

"_Well….I wanted to ask you if you knew why you were such a weakling."_

"…_Why?"The woman didn't know what he was up to; she guessed he was letting her live for a minute or too. She knew her end was near, and expected her whole life to flash before her eyes._

"_Glad you asked!" Andrew said, laughing. He wanted his laugh to sound happy and giddy, but to the ears of his victim, it sounded pure evil. "Because your just a _human._ Humans are weak. And you know what the weakest humans are? The females. Woman! CHILDREN! Because of them consisting such things as that, that's why they're weak. Why you're weak. Why the human race is weak."_

_Lauren tried to say something, but she knew she was just wasting breath. She had to keep breathing a little longer…_

"_Tell me…do you scream?"Andrew asked once again. "I know I'm repeating myself, but I just want to know." _

_The woman didn't answer._

"_Well, I guess that's a yes," he said. "No surprise there." Andrew began tossing up and down the lighter he had in his hand. "Do you know how it feels to burn?"_

"…_What?" the woman looked at him, her eyes full of dread. She knew what he had in store for her, but wished she didn't. She struggled to sit up, but another kick to her kidneys left her sprawled on her back on the hard ground. _

"_No, not just your flesh burning. I wouldn't do something _that_ stupid. No, not from the outside in. From the inside out."_

"_I…said…"_

"_No weapons? Hell! This isn't a weapon, this is a resource." And with those words, he went looking to see if the store consisted of oil around. He found some in the kitchen._

_He stood over her, looking at the face of a woman who would soon face death. He smiled down at her, saying into her mind, _I killed Cether. I killed him, yes. I believe you two were lovers. I feel honored to kill two lovers…you don't know how much this completes me

"_You…"Lauren looked up at the red headed man that would be her murderer. "You _monster…_"_

_--_

Still the smell of burning flesh was all around Andrew, and still heard the growing scream of the woman Lauren Oldsburg, or Mercy Oldsburg, as she preferred. He didn't right away return to the Ramka's lovely hole in the mountain because he thought he deserved the morning off, and he wanted to see the faces of the Teen Titans once again. He eyed the T-car that was parked in front of the Supermarket, sensing all their pain. He smiled at this, and sipped the water out of the woman's glass. Andrew ignored the backwash that floated all around in the woman's water. He just enjoyed drinking a dead woman's drink.

Andrew quickly finished the woman's water, got up, and walked towards the dead waiter who still was on the floor bleeding. The blood gave out an eerie stench, but Andrew noted that it wasn't as great as Ramka's lovely company of decaying skeletons. Eyeing the dead guy, he pulled out the knife from his throat, and flicked off the blood that wasn't dry yet. The dagger was caked with dark red blood, but it didn't matter. It would serve its purpose soon enough. Licking off the blood from the blade, he peered down at the hand that defied him…

--

"Do you think they have a bathroom around here?" Beast boy asked from the back seat.

"They might have one in the Supermarket," Raven said.

Beast boy nodded quickly and practically ran out of the car and into the Supermarket.

"More than I needed to know," Raven commented softly.

"I'll go see if Cyborg's having any problems," Robin said as he opened the car door."Yell if you guys are in trouble." And with that, he left a heavy silence in the T-car.

Raven eyed Anielle, who was staring outside her window at nothing in particular. Anielle was glad that the pain had subsided, and she knew Raven still didn't trust her. It read all across her face. Raven was probably sick of being around this girl, a girl they didn't know if they could trust.

"What was that?" Anielle asked quietly, thinking she heard someone cry out in pain.

"What?" Raven asked, looking around.

"I thought I heard something…" Anielle shook her head, driving the thought out of her mind.

"There's no one around," Raven observed. "You're just hearing things."

Anielle nodded.

Once they returned, and once Beast boy was refreshed, they started another day of their journey east, to the desert, or to The Desert of Nalen, though they didn't know it was called that. All they heard was silence, and the wind whipping around at the T-car. The hills all around them began to fade into the distance as they disappeared all together and was replaced by vast fields of faint green grass. The blue sky towered overhead, and the temperature slowly increased.

Each of the Titans and Anielle were lost in their own minds, wondering what would become of them, and what was happening to their friend, Starfire.

**--**

**--**

**Thanks a lot for Reviewing!**

_**Comments:**_

**Beautifully-evil: **I am sorry…I have writing issues…I hope some questions are answered in this chapter, and I hope it makes a lot more sense. Been going over and over this chapter, trying to look at it in different views, from the authors view and the readers view, trying to have it make more sense. I hope this chapter was so 'peas and carrots' ish this time.

**Mollykat:** Yeah, all my chapters probably will be interesting. Hope this chapter didn't befuddle you as the last…

**  
**


	10. Black Suburban

Sorry for the long update. Kind of busy with stuff and so on and so forth. Glad you guys are enjoying this! It feels so good to get reviews…you know how it feels to know people are reading and enjoying what you write. Wonderful feeling. You guys rock!

This chapter, I am proud to present, is very interesting...though I find interesting good, so therefore I believe it is good. I warn you for a bit of language yet again, and I am sorry if you get terribly confused. Trying to analyze the paragraphs closer than usual to see what might cause confusion…. This is a bit shorter than the last two chapter, though not by much. Head's up, things change…though if you change a person, you really are destroying them.

If you had a question about what the history lesson was, just imagine our history, and pick out all the bad details and throw in some more gruesome stuff in it, highlight all the gory events, and you have what Ramka told Starfire. I found that it would be a little long to write this in the story ...our history is very long and complicated…. There was nothing happy in his lesson…

(Note to you lovely reviewers at the bottom! Thanks a lot!)

Crap, the fonts. Well…. all I can say is that they are really screwed. I believe sometimes the bolded parts are bolded…and other times they aren't. If you think its distracting plz feel free to tell me. Sorry bout that, but I blame the site for doing so…. it will be mighty obvious if it's with Ramka or not. My apologies…

Disclaimer: I do not own Teen Titans, and if they had a choice I am sure they would gladly have liked to own themselves…. but I own my imagination.

Chapter 10

Four days it has been since the Titan's companion, Anielle, had been with them. Four long days it has been since they had started on their journey to stop Ramka, and when things appeared to seem good, it was far from it. The first day they began, they longed to forget, though it always haunted their minds. Hot weather plagued the four Titans and Anielle, causing them to sweat more than they ever thought possible. The weather caused them to be irritable and wish for the ice cold North Pole.

Throughout the last three days, the five travelers rested a few times during the day for about an hour, and a longer rest during the night, where everyone would try to get some sleep, Raven would meditate, and Cyborg would charge himself up. Always the nights were darker than what it should have been, and the heat stayed in place, always there to make one suffer. The hot weather made the traveling even more unpleasant than it already was. Nothing changed around them; the grass was yellowish, and the sky lost its brightness, and the lovely green hills were gone from their line of vision. To add onto the bad news, Cyborg's new and improved air conditioning broke on the third day, forcing them to keep the windows open and let in all the hot air and whatever cold air their was (barely any). Not many words had been exchanged except on rare occasions when they stopped at a rest stop to get some food and drinks, or if they suggested a movie to watch.

It was in the middle of the fourth long and interminable day. The sun was shining down on the T-car on the side of the road. Inside rested five hot teens longing for cooler weather. The temperature rose till about a hundred degrees with lots of humidity, causing sweat to drip down their faces, and Cyborg's new and improved thermometer placed on the roof of the car to explode. Raven commented about how stupid it was to even put a thermometer on a car.

"It's so dang _hot_," groaned Beast boy. "Cyborg… please tell me that you can at least _try_ to fix the air conditioning? It's hotter with the windows open than them being shut."

"That's not true," Cyborg said. "We would suffocate in here if we closed all the windows, now of all times since we are just sitting here. And no, I can't fix the air conditioning because it's broken…. I spent an hour trying to get it perfect…"

"So you're basically saying we're screwed?"

"Yup."

"Great." Beast boy fiddled with the moveable seat while drinking the rest in his soda can. After managing to only get a few drops out of the can, he said, "Well, it's a good thing the refrigerator still works."

"Yeah," Raven said, staring out her open window somewhere far away in the distance, than muttered, "Let's hope Beast boy won't break it."

"Hey!" yelled Beast boy, his voice cracking from lack of soda. "Why would I break it?"

"She's right, you know," Cyborg said, eyeing the changeling. "That things vital. I don't think we can trust Beast boy for going anywhere near it."

"You guys know I won't break it!" said Beast boy. "Why would I do that?"

"Did he break the air conditioning?" Raven asked curiously. The only reason why she chose to talk was so she could forget about the heat and everything else and just focus on insulting Beast boy's lack of doing things right.

"No, I didn't," Beast boy said. "Even if I did, I wouldn't even know how to break it in the first place. I don't even know how to it works!"

"Will you guys be quiet?" Robin said hoarsely from the front as he tried to get some shuteye, though unsuccessfully due to the voices. He hadn't spoken the last three days, along with the usual silence of Anielle. The other three titans hated to see him quiet and brooding. They always tried to be courteous towards him whenever he did speak. Anielle barely noticed anything since she was trying to keep control of herself against her brother, who had been plaguing her ever since he appeared in her mind.

"Sure Robin," Cyborg said. "I think we should keep going. It's been about an hour since we've been resting. Man, it's getting hotter by the second, too. It'll be nice to get some wind, no matter how hot it is."

"Do we have any more sodas?" Beast boy asked, making a move towards the fridge.

"One," Cyborg said. "Since you've already had three today, we should let someone else get the last soda. I've had two. I think Robin and Raven has had the same amount."

"Anielle's only had one," Raven said. From lack of trusting the girl, she kept an eye on every move she made ever since Starfire had been captured.

"Alright, Anielle, you get the last one," Cyborg said.

"I don't want it," came her simple reply.

"Anielle, you should have it," Cyborg said, turning around to face her. "No one's getting dehydrated today or any other day on this trip. Drink it."

Without any choice, the girl was forced to take the soda. As she and the others made a move to get their seatbelts on, a swishing noise stopped them in motion.

The big whooshing sound filled the silence and then a sudden BAM! erupted twenty feet beside the T-car, whipping up hunks of dirt and causing the T-car to almost capsize. As the dust cleared, the appalled passengers looked out to their right at the big indent in the ground a few feet away. The blazing sun that reflected off the black dirt hurt their eyes.

"Whoa," Beast boy said. "What was _that_?"

"I don't know," Cyborg said. "Looks like a…"

"What the heck was that?" Robin said seriously.

"A…bomb?" guessed Beast boy wildly.

"A bomb? Out here in the desert?" Cyborg asked.

"No," Raven said, "This isn't the desert. It's just _hot_. Whatever that thing was, I don't think it was a bomb. It was something bigger. It was about twenty five feet away, and we felt it."

"We could feel a bomb twenty feet away too," Beast boy argued. "If it was a big one…which it does look like."

"Holy crap!" yelled Cyborg. "What the hell is it aiming for?"

A realization hit Robin just before Cyborg asked the question. Anielle was the one who told him the obvious, and cursed him self silently for not seeing it through and through. _Us_. "GET OUT OF THE CAR! NOW!"

A louder whooshing sound than before filled the silence as if it were an oncoming hurricane. An extremely loud explosion filled their ears when the rocket hit its target: the T-car.

--

--

"So you see, happily ever after stories aren't the end. Nothing turns out to be _happy_ in the end. Nothing. It's just a beginning of something worse," Ramka said disgustingly. He answered, to his distaste, a question on something about Disney movies, or rather one that had something to do with 'white snow'. He had regretfully told her the ending (the movie was Snow White, the prince kissed the princess, so on and so forth). Ramka wondered how she even remembered that when he for sure deleted it from her memory. Moments before he told her about the kingdom dying a horrible and painful death the next day, the 'Prince Charming' escaping somehow in a tragic uncivilized way, than decided to cheat on the ugly and unfortunate Snow White, and many other unneeded details that made Starfire stare at him in slight interest but mostly in disturbance. She did not quite need to hear every stringy word he had said. Her stomach did flips.

The last few days Ramka had not paid too much attention to what Starfire asked, or what she said, or even what he said after he gave her that wonderful and educational history lesson. Other things were happening that drew his attention from Hadan. Two days before, he sent out ten of his men to the Messengers hideout (A Microsoft Building) to diminish all within, and sent two of his men to fish out the ones who were delivering messages or patrolling. Yesterday marked the day that there would be no living Messenger ever again. His Watcher had showed him everything he needed to see to believe it was true. It brought a smile to his old beardless face.

One thing made him mad. And what do you know, it was Andrew who caused this. When he returned to Ramka three days before, he returned with his right hand cut off and a smug look on his face. _How stupid he was, cutting of his own damn hand, _was Ramka's only thought. Not wanting to find out exactly what he did with his right hand, he sent him on his next assignment to Jump City.

How Ramka spoke with his men was by exiting out of Hadan while still appearing to be seated across from his victim and putting his full attention inside his cave. That's what he had been doing lately, though sadly he still heard every word Starfire and he himself said. Usually he was looking through the eyes of his Watcher to see what was going on. An hour before he sent one of his best men, Cornelius, (along with a tip to steal a nice rocket launcher with much pleasure in the taking) to blow up the T-car. The exact instructions Ramka had given him was this: 'Shoot a warning shot twenty three feet away from the actual target. Wait, and then do as instructed: blow up the car, and leave unnoticed to your next assignment.'

He bet that this bummed the tall long green haired man (one of his Watchers) who called himself Corn that he could not actually kill the passengers in the car, but he would be able to kill as much as he desired where he was to go next: Jump City. There he would join up with Andrew and Andrew's favorite hobo friend, Riley. Corn would show Ramka everything that went on there, and hopefully would make him pleased by showing in great detail the way Andrew was to murder Riley. Ramka hoped Andrew would put on a good show for him.

"Are there any other questions you would like to ask about this damnable Snow White?" Ramka asked smugly.

"No…" Starfire looked around, confused. Her eyes had been locked to Ramka's for who knew how long, and now she thought his eyes would bore holes into her forehead if she stared at them any longer. Starfire looked out into the garden through the glass walls. A thought sprung up in her mind, one that was caused by her stomach growling. "I am hungry…is it possible—''

Before she finished her question, all kinds of her favorite foods from Earth and Tamaran appeared out in front of her and Ramka, along with two cups of tea and lumps of sugar in a bowl. Starfire's eyes widened, and at once began to devour the food. There was a cup of mustard that Starfire practically attacked.

"I feel like I have not eaten for…four days!" Starfire exclaimed with her mouth full. "But it hasn't even been an hour…."

"Don't dwell upon the thought," Ramka said with fake cheerfulness as he sipped out of his cup of tea. He didn't have an appetite for anything that was on the small glass table. It was all Starfire's favorite, and that was the way it would be. The food was just a mere illusion anyway.

Before long, the food disappeared, and Starfire wiped her hands clean with a napkin that appeared out of thin air. Sitting back, and burping with a polite 'excuse me', Starfire sipped out of her tea, which contained four lumps of sugar.

"Full?" Ramka asked, as he made the empty trays and plates disappear with an unneeded wave of his hand.

"Yes, I am. I thank you, Fence," Starfire said. "But how…?"

"The mind," Ramka replied with a wise tone in his unpleasant voice. "The mind. Enough said."

"The mind…" Starfire played around with what his words for a moment, than asked quite curiously, "Fence, what is the mind?"

This question caught Ramka off guard. She was asking about the mind. Not one of the Hadan victims has ever asked that question before. This alien girl never stopped surprising him. He was aware that nothing in her mind had wanted to ask this question. Ramka usually could read what she was going to say before she said the words, but this time that didn't happen. Ramka didn't read anything in her mind about the screwy Snow White either. He looked at Starfire blankly.

"Is this a problem for you to answer, friend?" Starfire asked, a pinch of menace in her voice.

"No, Nameless," Ramka said quietly. "I was just thinking. Is it wrong to think?"

"No," Starfire replied.

"So," Ramka said, finishing up his cup of tea. He grunted. "You want to know about the mind, huh?" Ramka felt like smashing his delicate yet ugly pink teacup against the glass table, but thought against it. He received an eager nod. "All right. Fine. But tell me this first, Nameless, why do you ask?"

"I…" Starfire said, looking around. "I thought since you always say 'the mind. Enough said…' during the history lesson when I asked certain questions and then just now, I would like to know about this…. mind. Surely it is not the same thing as the brain?"

"I see," Ramka said, studying Starfire's face. Ever since he had given her the history lesson, her face had deepened into a less happy Starfire, and a crease between her eyebrows had formed. Now all he had to get rid of was the high preppy voice and the 'do not's' and she would be perfect to work with…. if she was not to die. "You are correct. The mind isn't the brain. It is by itself…" He cleared his throat. "All right, I will explain." He put on a fake grin, which made Starfire smile a bit as well. "The mind. The mind is a very difficult thing to explain to one such as you. A human. Such a—''

"Wait, what are you then?" Starfire interrupted.

Ramka sighed heavily, trying not to lose his head. He was more than just irritated at her for interrupting him, as she had done every single flipping second he said something she didn't get during the history lesson. That was another thing he had to get rid of…interruptions. "I am not human," he said, straining to stay calm. A vain was pulsing on his forehead. "Is that not enough for you?"

"I wish to know…"

"Why? Why do you want to know? Why is this _important_?" Ramka's voice lifted a notch in volume. "I am your friend! Is that not _enough_?" Yet again the question had caught him off guard, her wishing to know who he was. This girl was a great disturbance…he thought of paying more attention to her and her puny mind so he could be without the feeling of surprise.

"Fence," Starfire said softly. "You are my friend. My greatest friend I could possibly have and –'' Ramka almost choked at these words, "I know that that is a lot already, but if you are such a person to me, then I am sure you told me what you are before I…forgot." She gazed longingly into Ramka's, which startled him immensely. "Please, _please_, I beg of you. Tell me."

_She is a good convincer, _Ramka thought irritably. _But damn…. this girl…._ He was now more pleased than ever that she would soon be suffering horribly, and than would be dead. Deader than dead. "You have convinced me, _friend_," he said warily, and also saying the word 'friend' with great hatred. He hated the word just as much as he hated the word 'human'. "I am not human, as I have so much have stated. I am far from it. For I am a Schughz Kahnz." He said the last two words with great triumph in his voice.

"A what?" Starfire asked, confusion sweeping her darkening face away.

Looking away from her green eyes, he said quietly, "I am a Soul Stealer. A Schughz Kahnz. Translated exactly. Now, is that enough?"

"What is this Soul Stealer?"

_Of course,_ Ramka thought. _More questions from her. The victims before her at least had a comforting conversation before asking questions every single fucking second…_

The next time he would put someone through Hadan (and he was planning on it to be quite soon), he would make sure that human person would be silent the whole time. "Do you want to hear about the mind, or are you going to keep getting me off subject?" Ramka said, not bothering to hide his annoyance.

"Oh!" Starfire's face returned to its darkening stage again. "I am sorry, deeply sorry…"

"Don't be," Ramka said. "Everyone who says shit like that isn't. Never say you're sorry."

"Than what shall I say?"

Ramka rolled his eyes. "Say nothing. Now, can I continue my monologue, or will you keep asking these questions?"

"Please, continue."

"Good. Now, as I was saying, such simple mindedness has become of all you _humans_. This damnable world has been poisoned! Teaching people that they should serve justice and all that crap that shouldn't have anything to do with this world…" Ramka smiled. "The mind. It is best described to you as a room. Yes…a room with no windows, no door, no complete direction… a square room. Whiteness is all you see, blunt whiteness, and if you looked closely you would have seen the corners. That is your mind.

"Though, it is not just a room. It _is_ vague whiteness. Others, such as you, such as humans, unlike me and the men that work for me, and those damn human Messengers who go beyond their own goddamn knowledge…" his smile faded. He mumbled something about them lucky not to be killed by him, about him being quite content with their deaths, and then continued. "Others see just vague blackness. Floating darkness…this marks that they don't know the true meaning of the mind. You see within your mind if you close your eyes. If you see whiteness, you truly understand your mind, and can have the ability to do more with it and see more beyond the white walls. If you see blackness…you're screwed, and know nothing. Though other's who see whiteness, such as myself and my men…. and humans who used to and are dead…. can see it anytime they wish, _other _than closing one's eyes."

Starfire quickly closed her eyes, seeing blackness. "I do not understand, friend Fence," she said, opening her eyes. "What is the dreaming, then? How do you—''

"One question at a time," Ramka said. "Dreaming is the mind and the soul colliding, making the illusion of what you call…dreaming." _Or if you have any guts, Hadan, _he thought. _Thought that would be two minds and two spirits…._

"And you steal this soul, correct?"

"Yes. The name says it all. Though I don't steal worthless souls, I steal souls that have a use in my power."

"Oh….I see, but what is the soul? Is it what keeps you alive? Our total self? Our spirit? Our feelings? Emotional nature of us humans and you…and…. other things? I mean, people such as you?"

Ramka stared at her blankly, grinned suddenly, than said quickly, "Yes, yes. What you said. The mind is what control's the soul, your own mental being, so on and so forth." He thought he had wiped out all that information as well, but he was wrong, again. _Blimey, this old age.._. Ramka knew from recent experience that once those questions Starfire asked were answered, the next batch was up. Even though he was hoping she would ask questions, he also wasn't expecting her to ask so many. He lost count on how many awhile ago.

A bright light shined in her green sapphire eyes, making them seem unreal to her deepening face. Ramka had to force himself to keep in his seat, or otherwise he would have ripped those eyes right out of their sockets without a second's hesitation. "How do you become to understand the mind?"

"You have to know all the mind can do before mastering it. Before you can use it to read other's minds, make things appear, stop time—''

"Stopping time," the alien girl gasped. Ramka thought she remembered him doing so him self, but was happily mistaken; she was deeply interested. "Please continue…."

"—And many other things," concluded the old man. He hoped she wouldn't push on. Sure, he could force the information out of her mind, but that would ruin the fun of Hadan. Forcing out too much information from the victim's mind would make them stupid, and talking to stupid people made Ramka very disoriented. (His men always thought stupidity ran off on Ramka if one such person came near to him.) Four days it has been, only three left till she dies and she was changing already. Things were going good…. but not exactly as he had foreseen it.

"_What_?" she said, disappointed. "Please, go on! I truly wish to master the mind." A moment passed, and when Ramka did not speak a word, Starfire said, "Fence, will you not tell me? I truly wish to know…once you have started telling me, why do you stop? We have all day to talk about the mind."

_Three days, my dear,_ Ramka thought amusingly. _Seventy-two hours. It will take more than that to explain the mind, and master them all. Though I highly doubt you could do so yourself._

A minute went by, and still he did not speak.

Starfire slowly finished off the tea that had started to grow a bit cold, and wiped off what crumbs were left on her lap. She sighed while a thought was placed in her mind, forced in there by the one and only Ramka. "What do I have to do to get you to tell me?" she asked obediently.

"You really want to know?" Ramka asked, looking at her with amusement.

"Yes. What do I have to do?"

"It's a long list. Surely you don't want to deal with it."

"I do. Tell me."

"Fine, fine. But for later understanding—'' he was positive there would be no later understanding, "—be reminded that you chose to do such and such."

"No worries, I will remember," Starfire said confidently.

"Good, now… First…" he looked up at the clear ceiling thoughtfully. "You have to cut off all your hair, leaving it quite short, and wear something better than what you're wearing. Sickening, your outfit…" He had to at least enjoy the change that would become of his victim.

--

--

All that was left of the T-car was just a pile of charred crap in the middle of a large gaping hole. Even the blackened pile wasn't much, but it was all Cyborg had left of his well loved car.

"My…my _car_!" shrieked Cyborg. "Who the heck did this to my car!"

All five stood a few feet away, looking warily at where they had sat, and would have died a few minutes before if they didn't jumped out of the car when told to by Robin.

"We…could have been _killed_," Beast boy said, stunned.

"Yeah, we could have. And we still can, if whoever shot those things chose to do so," Robin said, looking around and inspecting his surroundings. He half expected to see a man running from the scene.

"No one's out there Robin," Raven said, scanning the area as well. "We're alone."

"Then who shot at us? And with what?" Beast boy asked frantically.

"This was Ramka's doing," Robin said seriously, looking at Raven. "Don't say it's not. You know as well as I he would be the only one to think up a thing like this."

"My car…." Cyborg said in a high-pitched voice, lost for words. He knelt down beside the pile of ashes, his face full of agony.

"Even if it was him, he would have killed us," Raven said. "Surely he would have killed us if he made all the trouble in blowing up the T-car."

"He didn't. He didn't because he made a warning shot first." Robin pointed at the indented blackened spot twenty feet away from them.

"This is stupid," Raven said. "Whoever did it, they served their purpose. Now we have to walk to the next rest stop. The last sign we passed said forty miles…we are going to have to walk.

"Exactly," Robin said, a gleam in his eyes. "I'm positive that's what they intended."

"My car…" whimpered Cyborg over and over again.

"Can't you just fly us over there, or teleport us?" Beast boy asked Raven hopefully.

"The problem is, we don't know exactly where the next rest stop is," Raven said.

"We can't fly?"

"There are two people here who can fly, and three who can't. We are going to have to walk."

"Walk forty miles?" Beastboy looked at her as if she were the living dead.

"Yes…and judging by the heat, it will be a long hard walk…" Raven looked peculiarly at Anielle, as if it was her fault this had happened. Anielle just stood their looking pitifully at Cyborg, who seemed close to tears.

"Cyborg, come on, we got to get going," Robin said. He tried to sound nice about it, but the heat started to get to him more than it had in T-car. When Cyborg failed to answer, he repeated his words.

"Why did they have to destroy my _baby_?" yelled Cyborg, throwing up his hands in the air and hanging his head.

"Cyborg," Robin said softly.

"What? Are you going to say get over it, deal with it, it will be ok?"

"No, I'm not," Robin said. "It looks like things won't be ok, since we aren't in a very good position. But we do have to get going. I'm sorry about your car, Cyborg. It's a shame we could not have saved it."

"Thanks Robin," Cyborg said, standing up slowly. He looked around, and gazed at his fellow friends. "Well…I guess we got to get going then..."

" Forty miles," squeaked Beast boy.

"Yeah," Robin said. "Let's go…"

The heat and humidity was what made a half an hour seem more than it really was. Their steps became strained . In about an hour the heat began to weigh down on each of their shoulders like heavy unseen boulders.

All they knew of was what surrounded them, and each step that felt like gazillion. Gasping for breath while they felt nothing in their numb legs, their sweaty sides aching, their faces reddening due to the sun's hot and scornful rays. Their throats were parched since they had not sipped anything liquid for as long as they could remember. Parched throat, burning eyes, drowning in their own sticky sweat, a billion bonfires burning in one's mind, heart beating constantly against one's rib cage, crying out for mercy.

Beast boy felt the heat the worst, or so he thought. He had changed from dog, to cat, to humming bird (you couldn't tell it was a humming bird; it was going so slow), to rhino, to ant, and finally back to human form, completely tired out mostly by being compressed by the hot air that didn't supply the oxygen in need of his screaming lungs. He felt that the air would kill him in an instant in it's own particular choosing. Not for long he started to have hallucinations.

"Sick, Beast boy," gasped Cyborg hoarsely, who was walking next to him. Drool was coming out of the changeling's hanging mouth, the substance most likely to evaporate sooner than later.

"Chocolate….moose….pie…" Beast boy crooned softly.

Shaking his head slightly at Beast boy's suggestion of food, Robin looked ahead for anything in sight. A car, a sign, even a hobo with pitchforks as so long as they could get out of this heat. He was walking behind Beast boy and Cyborg, who was inching back away from the changeling, since more drool was escaping Beast boy's mouth. Robin thought he saw a car come into view up ahead, but then it turned into a floating glass of sparkling ice cool beautiful looking spring water, and knew at once he was hallucinating.

Raven walked ahead of them all, thinking that this was the lamest thing she could be doing now of all times. Anielle hung in the back, sweating immensely due to the color of her clothes: black. Just the thing she needed, more sun. But what she didn't know just then was what was going to happen next.

A striking pain hung in her stomach, rippling up and down her whole sticky aching body. It felt like several daggers punching into her skin, into her veins, beneath the bones and through all the puny living cells in her suffering body. Her vision began to blur more than it already was. In less than an instant her sight swiveled up into vast blackness, forcing her to walk blindly. Anielle feared what was to come…

Her brother. Her brother, of all times of choosing to take over her with his full power, and all the times after Anielle never slept to fight for her freedom of herself, he chose now. When she was weakening ,out in the hot air that squeezed every living thing out of her. He chose this time to strike.

Robin jumped out of his skin when a voice sang out in his mind. He hadn't heard anything in his mind since the first day, the first day he longed to forget.

_Robin_, called the voice. He at once knew it was Anielle, trying to speak to him. He was unaware about how much pain was placed in the two syllables. _Robin…_

His eyes behind his mask opened wide as he looked around to see Anielle sweating like hell behind him. _Hi Anielle,_ he thought back to her. _Doing ok back there?_

_Robin, I have to ask you something,_ came her brisk reply.

_Yeah, sure, what is it?_ Robin turned to face the front and noticed that Cyborg was walking beside him with a disgusted look on his sweaty half robotic face. He nodded to Robin, and he nodded back. Two things they both knew: It was so freaking hot out, and Beast boy and hotness doesn't cope, especially when his hallucinations take a step from liquid to solid food.

_No….crap no…._ Anielle said these words with a troubling sigh in them. Fierce steel claws took her legs, digging deep within her soul drawing out what good was left in it…sharp blood thirsty teeth of a devouring wolf dug into her screaming mind….poison from the deadliest beasts slithered into her veins, into her heart, turning it into hard stone…pumping black ice cold blood throughout Anielle's body which she once owned….not anymore….

_We can talk all the way to the next rest stop. Go ahead and tell me anything you like._ Robin found a liking to speak in the mind. It felt like a light breeze, cooling him off.

_I'm sorry…_ Anielle was blinking back hot dark bloody tears, and hugging herself tightly. She had lost control… She knew Robin couldn't help her anymore.

_Why? Is that a question?_ Robin joked.

Anielle's insides were burning with freshly opened wounds. She felt her dark grey eyes changing painfully into vague blackness, a dark color you could easily get lost in by just the mere look upon them. Her sight, her eyes changed into this color since it was the only thing she had left to control, even though her brother could still see what she saw. It was as if a she, the puppet, could still move, even though her brother could slip his fingers into her and move her any which way. Anielle's mind, body, and soul were taken by her brother's never ending power…. _I am sorry that I could not have helped you…it was all my fault…_said Anielle with her last power of her voice….thenanother voice unlike Anielle's said menacingly…_you are blind…_

_What do you mean? _Robin asked, but in vain. He asked a few more times, but got no answer. He wanted to turn around and see what was up with her, but the heat decided for him. Turning around would be a very uncomfortable thing to do in this boiling heat.

"We…are going to…_die_," Beast boy said dramatically as his hallucinations suddenly disappeared. "We aren't going to make it…forty miles….forty miles!" He started to cough a bit.

"We'll make it," Robin said hopefully, not even trying to hide concern in his voice.

"No…no we won't…" Beast boy said after his coughing stopped. "We are going to die out here. If we ever stop, we will fall down onto the hot sizzling ground, die, become rotted corpses while being feasted upon those vultures up there…" He began to cough again. Each cough came out ragged and lengthy, as if Beast boy was throwing up something that wished to stay down.

"Whoa," Raven said, turning around to face Beast boy. "Beast boy, we are not going to die. We—''

"No," Beast boy said between coughs. "_We …will….die…_" Beast boy doubled over, coughing horrendously.

"Beast boy!" yelled Cyborg and Robin , both catching him before he fell to the ground. They exchanged worried glances as the changeling's coughing failed to cease while hot tears ran down his sunburned cheeks. There was no way he could breathe.

"Raven!" Robin yelled.

Raven quickly came to his aid, but was distracted by the dark figure behind them. Anielle was standing there, staring at Beast boy with a smirk on her face unlike her. Her eyes had changed a darkening color, and her facial features turning from sad feminine to somehow the fury of masculine. The only thing that reminded Raven of Anielle was her innocent eyes, despite the change of the color. She stood standing there lost in those dark black unmoving pools of oblivion. Raven shook her head quickly, and knelt down beside Beast boy, her hand glowing. She knew something had changed about that orphan.

'Hold him still," she ordered quietly.

"We…can't…" Cyborg said. "His coughing is forcing him to move!"

"Well, try then," Raven said, annoyed.

Cyborg and Robin got a better hold of him, Cyborg whispering sorry if he was hurting the poor guy. Beast boy was still coughing horribly. Raven put a glowing hand to his throat, at once healing his dry throat. As silence enveloped the four Titans. Beast boy gave a grin that lifted his fellow teammates' spirits. He was all right. Beast boy gave a silent thank you.

"You're welcome," Cyborg said happily patting him on the back. "Don't do that to us again. You freaked us out."

Beast boy mouthed a sorry, obviously clear that he didn't want to risk speaking again in fear of a killer coughing spree. He had a slight idea his thoughts about becoming dead corpses on the dirt ground, but he soon forgot.

"Raven," Robin said, as he and Raven got up. "What's wrong? You look worried."

Raven gave another quick look at Anielle as the smirk left her savage looking face. "It's nothing," she said seriously. _Nothing at all,_ Raven thought to herself, hoping to convince her growing suspicions.

"Hey Rae, you think you can use your powers to shield the sun from us?" Cyborg asked cheerfully. He stood up with a deathly looking green hamster on his shoulder. "I feel stupid that I didn't think of it earlier, or having Beast boy here on my shoulder. His drool threw me off." He grinned, and the hamster stuck his pink tongue out at him.

"Let's keep going," Raven said, not answering his question. "I think there's a sign up there."

"You sure it isn't a big glass of sparkling water?" Robin asked as the small group continued to walk. He was thinking of his last hallucination.

Ten minutes later they reached the sign Raven had seen. It read:

Rest Stop: 35 miles

Isaan Hower: 50 miles

"Holy crap! We only walked _five miles_?" Cyborg yelled, outraged. "I can't believe it! It felt like the whole forty to me! If that evil Ramka guy hadn't blown up my baby…then we would have already been there….but…but why—''

"Calm down," Robin instructed before Cyborg could go rambling on about his poor car. "Or else your going to start coughing like Beast boy." He turned to Raven, who was standing right next to him. "What do you think Isaan Hower is?"

"A town, most likely," Raven replied.

"Are we going to have to walk there too?" Cyborg asked.

"I think we just might—'' Robin was interrupted by a sound of an engine far off, and sure enough, a black speck appeared in the hazy distance. No one spoke as they watched the dark speck grow into an even bigger speck, and then suddenly into a huge black car zooming 70 MPH towards the Titans and their quiet companion. A few minutes later the Titans watched in awe as the car turned into a Suburban. The car pulled to a stop right next to where the five teens stood looking bewildered (except Anielle). The driver

s window which was closest to them, slid down, revealing a middle aged man.

The man appeared to be smiling at them. He had long brown hair past his shoulders, bushy dark brown eyebrows, matching sideburns, and hazel eyes. His face was comforting to the sweating five out in the heat. "Need a lift?" the man asked cheerfully.

"Nice car…" Cyborg said, and the hamster on his shoulder hopped off, turning back into his human form.

"Uh, who are you?" Robin asked, noting that the driver didn't seem in the least surprised when the changeling changed.

"A town's person who wants to help you out. You guys look like you've been through hell and back again," the man said. His gaze fell upon all of them, his eyes lingering a bit longer on Anielle.

"Are you from the town Isaan Hower?" Robin asked.

"Yeah, I am," the man said. "Why don't I give you guys a lift? I'll turn around and get you there as fast as I can."

"That's nice of you—''

"Come on Robin!" Cyborg interrupted. "It's so freaking hot our here! And Beast boy is bound to faint on us any minute." Beast boy pretended to look like a dead person walking, though unsuccessfully. "Let's give this guy a chance. I don't think this is a hallucination." Beast boy nodded his head in agreement.

Robin sighed, than nodded as well.

"Come right in," the man said.

Robin got into the front, while Raven and Beast boy sat in the middle, and Anielle and Cyborg sat in the back. As soon as they stepped in the car, they at once knew were in heaven. The air conditioning was on high, the seats were very comfortable and no sun could reach them in this car.

"Here's some water," the man said. "You guys look like you need it." He handed Robin a water bottle, and tossed the other four into the back. Beast boy and Cyborg drank down all the water in one gulp ending with two loud burps. They both laughed and gave each other a high five.

"Thanks dude!" Beast boy said as the man started back towards Isaan Hower.

A few minutes passed by while they listened to 98.5 K fox on the radio, along with a happy comment from Beast boy.

"Who are you?" Robin whispered to the man next to him.

The man cast a worried glance to Robin. "Robin," he said softly, startling the teen. "Look, I'm here to help. I'm against Ramka. And no, I am not like Andrew….god damn him…"

A silence embarked inside the car, marking that everybody heard what the man said. Cyborg whispered something to himself about his T-car being better looking and more high tech than the Suburban.

"Prove it," Beast boy challenged.

"All right," the man said, eyeing a dead vulture on the side of the road. "I am a Messenger, one in the force against the likes of Ramka. The Messengers are the only human force against him, and once was the only force who was successful…"

"Was? What do you mean 'was'?" Robin asked suspiciously.

"Ramka sent out his men –his men like Andrew, god _damn_ him—to exterminate all the Messengers. He found out where our headquarters was located, sadly a Microsoft building, and killed every one within, even the ones who were play acting to be real businessmen… Ramka also sent all his men to search out and destroy the Messengers delivering messages and patrolling assigned positions. Ramka thinks all the Messengers are dead, but that's where he is wrong. His Watcher failed to look farther than what seems to be."

"Who is the Watcher?" Beast boy asked.

"The Watcher is Ramka's stupid little spies who see everything that's going on at the important places. Ramka has control of the Watcher's mind, so he pretty much can see what the Watchers see."

"Who exactly is the Watcher?"

"It's more than one person, obviously some of Ramka's men. As you know, a person can't be in two places at once…"

"The Watcher…you never answered my question. Who are you?" Robin asked.

"Oh, sorry," the man said. "I am Cether. Used to be one of the most powerful Messengers, but now, I am the strongest."

"You are the last one of them?" Robin asked.

"No, I'm not. There are two more left alive. They have been in our force for about a year...just mere beginners." Cether looked grave.

"How'd you guys survive?" Cyborg asked from the back.

"Barely. We barely survived. Ramka's men aren't human, and we are, so we have a weakness. They can't die by just a simple stab or a loss of blood. They are non-humans, demons sometimes, and other creatures as well. I and also the two other Messengers ran for our lives, lucky enough to get away, and if one of them drew near, we would pretend we were dead."

Anielle glanced around at the four Titans. None of their faces revealed anything; they were waiting for their leader to answer and whose mind was being read delightfully by her wonderful brother.

"Whoa," Beast boy said, astounded when know one spoke. "That's….that's…."

"The amount of water bottles," Robin said swiftly, his voice growing as he tightly gripped his half filled bottle. "You knew we were out here. You purposefully came out here to save us, didn't you?"

"Yes," was Cether's soft reply.

"Dude, none of Ramka's men would do that, if they weren't human," Beast boy pointed out.

"Unless they wanted to kill us," Cyborg added. "Nice thing you did, Cether. We just don't know if we can trust you, or if you are telling the truth."

"We can't trust many anymore…" Beast boy said.

"He's telling the truth," Raven said seriously.

Robin turned to face her in the back. "What? How do you know?" Robin asked.

"He's telling the truth," Raven said. "I read his mind. Everything he said is true. He knows everything that has happened to us, even what Andrew did. He's on our side, and he's here to help."

Robin stared at her, dumbfounded.

"People's minds don't lie, Robin," Raven said forcefully. "He used his mind to track us, they\ same way as Ramka's men do. He isn't one of them. His mind is human."

"How can you tell someone's mind is human?" Beast boy asked, confused.

"By one's thoughts," Cether replied for her. "A demon would think such things on how to murder someone in such ways a human wouldn't even imagine. I wouldn't even imagine what such _creatures_ would do to a mere human…"

"Sick…" Beast boy looked utterly disgusted.

"Guess you're an ally," Robin said, facing the front again. "Ff what Raven says is true, then I'm guessing you know all of our names."

"Yes, I do," Cether said. "Even Anielle back there."

Anielle didn't pay any attention to the comment. Her brother was controlling her to look out the window, her arms folded, and the water bottle still unopened. It was true that Cether was speaking the truth, and her brother would soon report this news to Ramka when he finally got total control of his sister. His orders (which he received six days ago) were to find his orphan sister, get a hold of her mind, control her mind, body and soul, and then when he was finished with this, he would report back to Ramka. Apparently he hadn't succeeded quite yet.Cether's mind was wide open, and Anielle's brother was hungrily devouring every piece of information within while still battling over Anielle's sight.

"We'll be at Isaan Hower soon," Cether reported.

"So…Cether," Beast boy said conversationally. "About the Watcher..."

"Yes?" Cether said.

"Do you know who they are, particularly?" Beast boy asked.

"No," Cether replied sadly. "They could be anyone, but Messengers can detect if one of Ramka's men are nearby."

"How?"

"We forget things. Simple things, like what we were just doing."

"Oh," Beast boy said.

"Cether," Robin said, looking sideways at the driver. "If you say you were one of the strongest…I mean are the strongest, does it mean that…that you are strong physically?"

"Physically and mentally," Cether replied warily. "Physically, the body, mentally, the mind and soul. I have self-control of all. And that's how I know what's been happening to you guys…the mind…."

_So you can speak in the mind?_ Robin thought out to him.

_Yes, telepathy. Who taught you this?_ Cether cast a worried glance at Robin.

_You have to be taught?_

_Yes, of course. You can't just learn it on your own. Raven was taught, of course. Who taught you?_

_Oh, I didn't know._ Robin finished drinking the rest of his water and put the bottle to the side. _Can't you read my mind or something, if you have full control of it?_

_Yes, but I rather have you tell me. I don't really enjoy disturbing your privacy, unlike Ramka's men. I had to though, I am sorry to say, to see what position you guys were in._

_Anielle spoke to me in my mind. She got rid of a voice that was bothering me…and I guess I learned that way. _

_Who was the voice?_

_I'm not quite sure….I wish I knew though. I thought it was nice that Anielle helped me out. It would have driven me mad if she wasn't there to help me…I wonder who taught her?_

Cether looked around nervously, his lips tugging into a grim line. He strained to see outside into the hot atmosphere, but failed to see a single being. _Drat_, he whispered into the mind of Robin.

"What?" Robin asked aloud.

Cether turned down the music, receiving a complaint from Beast boy and Cyborg.

"Why'd you turn it down?" Cyborg asked rudely.

"Sorry, sorry," Cether said apologetically. He put on the breaks, screeching to a stop, and listened.

"What's going on?" Raven asked, alert.

Anielle turned around, and sure enough, there was a familiar swishing noise in the air.

"Shit," muttered Cether,jamming on the accelerator.

A huge KABLAM noise filled the six human's ears. All turned around, except Cether, who continued to take on more momentum.

"What the hell!" yelled Cyborg. What was right behind them a few seconds ago was a huge blackened hole in the middle of the road, and plainly seen farther away was a long green haired skinny figure dressed in black. On his shoulder was a huge rocket launcher with smoke swiveling out of it. They could tell that his mouth was speaking words they were glad they couldn't hear, and then out of the blue, he raised his other hand, revealing the middle finger.

"Who was that?" Beast boy yelled. "He's…the finger!"

"That," Cether said calmly, "is one of Ramka's men. Apparently he wanted to get a message out. He looks… pretty pissed." Cether looked in the middle mirror, and raised his bushy eyebrows.

"He's the one who blew up my car!" yelled Cyborg, outraged. "Why are you speeding up? Go back! I WANT TO GIVE HIM A PIECE OF—''

"Cyborg," Robin said.

"WHAT!"

"He would gladly kill you if he wanted to," Cether pointed out. "No reason to risk your life for no reason."

"AND WHY NOT? I HAVE A GOOD ENOUGH REASON!"

"It's not worth risking your life for," Cether said, now at 100 MPH.

"Cyborg, he's not _human_," Beast boy said, turning to face him.

"I'm half robotic!" Cyborg yelled.

"Quit yelling," Raven said. "There's no point yelling over you getting killed for a car."

"WHO DO YOU—''

"Cyborg!" Robin said, his voice a bit higher than usual. "Calm down! We all understand what you're going through. We've all lost…something we truly care for…don't think you're the only one."

Cyborg was about to ask what they all had lost, but then suddenly realized it. He shut his mouth, and didn't speak the rest of the journey to Isaan Hower.

Cether finally slowed down once they sped passed the next rest stop. A thought drew upon him as he finally remembered something. _Robin_, he said out into the teen's mind next to him, _I remember what I was going to say before our….little interruption._

_What? _Robin asked curiously.

_The voices in your head. You would not be grateful towards Anielle if you knew what that other voice was._

_Well, what was it?  
_

_A warning. It was what Starfire was thinking out to you guys when you left, and when she tried to call you guys, but you didn't hear. Andrew, god damn him, used a silence spell so you would not hear her through the mind or if she yelled._

_God damn Andrew, _growled Robin, clearly remembering what the voice had said.

Cether smiled. He turned up the music once again, reading accidentally in Beast boy's mind his annoyance towards the sudden silence. _Oh, and I don't know who taught Anielle telepathy, _he said, receiving a nod from Robin.

Anielle's brother was fully aware of the conversation going on between Cether and Robin. Her brother was quite pleased with his green haired friend, Corn, for his lovely appearance. Just for that, he had considered giving Anielle a break from fighting over her sight. To Anielle's relief, he did, but not for long…

--

--

Anger throttled over Ramka, though in Hadan, he wore a toothy smile, and if anyone had any sense around (which no one did) they could see it was a fake. His eyes were bulging red. He was pissed that Corn didn't do exactly what the instructions said, but then again, he was quite glad. If Corn hadn't stuck around to find out what happened, Ramka would not have seen from his Watcher (who failed to do what he was told) that the Titans and the taken over Anielle have been picked up by a black Suburban. They _didn't_ walk the forty miles as planned. _Who the hell?_

The mystery exactly was who the hell picked them up. Who had the _guts_ to even ruin his plans? Besides a million dollar tip to steal a rocket launcher with pleasure, Ramka knew he should have given Corn a lesson (all his lessons were very unpleasant) on how to deal with the situation instead of flicking up a finger. Surely he had something better in his damnable mind than _that._

Yet Corn knew Ramka would get angrier if he did not go to his next post to join up with Andrew and his favorite ugly ass hobo friend, Riley. If he had defied that, he'd be dead.

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Thanks a lot for reviewing! Comments to ye:

Ceannasai Dar Tine: Nice new username! Heh. I am happy that you are content with the confusedness stuff. I'll try not to keep it so confusing so that you don't know what the hell is going on. I am trying to push in answers in here and there for some of your questions, so I hope that will help. Probably not too much in this chapter, but next chapter just might be it. ( can't say for sure….)

WindyDays: Hope you had a nice vacation! Glad this fanfiction is very surprising. Sorry to say I am not updating too soon….you know, we all get lazy especially with the heat of the summer. Yay summer! Now that I think of it….I think 'confusing' is my middle name.

And thankies to those who put me on their fav's and author alerts! I appreciate it!


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